Wicked Promise
by Aria6
Summary: A story inspired by a picture done by Nijuuni on Deviant Art! Axel is a monster trapped in a mirror and Roxas is just a normal boy. What do they have in common? A lot actually... please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This fic is inspired by the Wicked Promise picture on Deviant Art! Go look up Nijuuni's artwork, she is just amazing! Now, on with the show!

_Deep within his magical slumber, the entity within the mirror dreamed._

_The dreams were chaotic, as befitted his nature. Sometimes he dreamed of sunshine and birds flying through the air. Flowers grew and flowered then withered at his touch as the birds burned in bright little sparks. He dreamed of poisoned honey and perfumed corpses. He dreamed of his mother and the smell of hair burning in the sunshine. He dreamed of his father and red sands that burned underfoot as skeletal vultures circled overhead._

_For an ordinary mortal this would have been a nightmare. For the entity in the mirror it was a pastiche of memory, imagination and symbolism. The dreams did not discomfort it and it ventured into the realms of the mind, undisturbed._

_But finally something did disturb it. Light and voices. The entity grumbled and stirred before falling into a much lighter doze. It would awaken eventually but that would take some time._

_It had nothing if not time._

* * *

"Hhhhchew!" Roxas sneezed violently and rubbed his nose. "I can't believe I let my mom talk me into doing this." His mother was deeply involved in the church and liked to delude herself that her son and husband felt the same way. Roxas liked the pastor well enough but had no use for most of the congregation and normally wouldn't have been caught doing this on a bet. But his mother's guild trips along with a promise from the pastor had finally sweetened him enough to begin cleaning out the church's attic. It was hard work but Roxas was only removing all the random boxes and junk that had accumulated over the years. Anything too heavy he would leave and the pastor would hire some movers to get it out. "Hm?" Roxas frowned as he found an ironbound wooden chest. It had been buried under a ton of other crap. "Hf!" Roxas tried to shift it and found it wasn't that heavy. He could just carry it out… but what was the fun in that? "Hmm." He tried to open it and found it was locked. "Huh!" That was a first. Shrugging, he pulled out a lock pick and set to work. The pastor would thank him for opening it.

Roxas smiled as he worked. His father was a locksmith, which was how he had the tool in the first place. Roxas fully intended to take up the business when his father was gone and was already quite good at it. The lock was stubborn and Roxas was wishing for some WD-40 by the time it finally clicked open. But finally it was free and he opened to chest to see –

"What the hell?" Roxas stared in puzzlement at the bundle of silk in the chest. It was pure white silk embroidered with golden crosses. It looked like the embroidery had been done by hand and it was very intricate. Roxas touched the silk tentatively with one finger and realized there was something beneath it. "Hm." He lifted out the whole bundle and unwrapped it, wincing at the feeling of the silk under his fingers. It was very old and the threads were beginning to part. Such a shame but it hadn't been stored well. Beneath it, though, was something amazing and beautiful. "A mirror?" Roxas lifted it up and examined it, wondering.

The mirror was huge. It was easy to see now why the chest was so big yet not particularly heavy… the mirror was bulky yet oddly light. The wood of the frame had been heavily gilded and shone even in the dim light of the attic. The scrolling was intricate and old fashioned and seemed to represent ferns. There was a woman's face at the top of the frame and Roxas found the detail of it quite impressive. It had to have been hand carved.

"I'm asking for this!" He decided instantly. That was the bribe the pastor had given him. In exchange for his labor he'd be able to select one item out of the attic. Roxas was pretty sure the pastor had been banking on there not being anything valuable up here at all, but it looked like he'd been wrong. This mirror had to be worth several hundred dollars. Maybe as much as a thousand. How old was it? Roxas quickly decided no matter how valuable it was, he was going to keep it. But maybe he would bring it to an appraiser anyway just to be sure. And he'd like to know the history behind it. How had something so lovely gotten locked away in a chest?

Roxas completely missed the tiny silver crosses sewn into the lining of the silk. And even if he had noticed, he would have thought nothing of it.

Later that day, Roxas looked at the mirror in his room with pleasure. His mother had wanted to put it over the fireplace but his father loved the old picture of figure skaters too much and Roxas had made a very good case for it being his mirror. Both his parents had finally agreed and let him install it on his bedroom wall.

Roxas didn't consider himself vain but he couldn't resist staring into the mirror for a long moment. It was probably just the lighting in the room but he thought he looked better in this mirror than the one in the bathroom. Roxas smiled ruefully to himself at the whimsy. Of course it was the lighting, harsh florescent bulbs were kind to no one. Still… he reached out to run a finger along the carving. Sighing softly, he turned to leave the room. He needed to help his mother with the dishes.

Roxas completely missed the brief flicker in the mirror, two glowing dots of green like eyes. Then they vanished.

* * *

_The entity was confused. Barely roused from its slumber, it tried to escape and found itself enchained. The chaining was painful and the grating as it fought served to awaken it further. It came to awareness with a snarl of rage and if there had been anything to take out that rage upon, something would have died. As it was, the rage flickered aimlessly before guttering out in sullen resignation._

_Flexing its abilities for the first time in countless years, it touched minds. A bodiless thing of malice and hate, it whispered through the house like a foul stench. Or at least, so it imagined. The reality was slightly different but the entity had never truly come to grips with its nature._

_Parental expectations were always a bit hard to get past._

* * *

Roxas dried the dishes mechanically, trying to figure out what he was smelling. His mother didn't seem to have noticed anything but Roxas had picked up an almost appetizing smell. It smelled a bit like cooked pork, a bit like cloves and a lot like cinnamon. It made him think of the Christmas hams his mother sometimes made but he was sure she wasn't cooking anything like that. Was she?

"Mom? Are you making a roast?" He finally asked. She looked up at him, surprised. She was an older woman with flaxen hair several shades lighter than his own. It almost looked white in bright light. She was beginning to show her age but was still a beautiful woman. Roxas had been told by one of the kids at school that his mom was a MILF. Fortunately he hadn't understood at the time or there would have been a fight. Roxas did not want the other kids at school talking about his mom that way.

"No. Why do you ask?" Roxas hesitated. Couldn't she smell it? Maybe she had a cold.

"I just smell ham. The neighbors must be making something. Or I might be imagining it." It wouldn't be the first time he'd imagined a scent. That was the least reliable sense, for Roxas anyway.

"Oh." His mom lost interest and unplugged the sink, letting the water drain. Roxas hurried to finish drying and putting away the dishes. "Make sure you do your homework." She reminded him as she did every night. Roxas stifled a sigh of impatience.

"Yes mom." He replied mechanically. Parents were great but the reminders did get very, very tedious after a while. Roxas rubbed his nose. He could smell the ham more strongly than ever. It was making him rather hungry. Putting away the dishes, he went to grab a snack out of the fridge and took a piece of spicy salami. Casually munching, he went to his room and pulled out his books.

He had a lot of homework to do for tomorrow.

* * *

_The entity had made contact with the boy. For a long moment it considered what to do._

_When it was free it would likely have raped and killed the child, if only out of frustration. Or it might have tried to kidnap him and keep him as a pet, but that wouldn't have lasted long, no matter what kind of fuss it kicked up. Mother wouldn't have allowed it. Shoving aside that unpleasant memory the entity considered. It could try to drive the child mad. That likely wouldn't be difficult. But it was… unsatisfying. The boy seemed so pure. He had a good family and a good home. The entity felt resentment flare. It had never had those things._

_Perhaps it would do something more subtle. Looking through the child's eyes the entity tried to understand what he was doing. Work of some sort. Math? And he kept flipping back to instructions. That was very helpful and the entity quickly became absorbed in the lesson._

_It had always been very good at math. A pity it had never had instructors._

* * *

Roxas sniffed as he worked. He could still smell ham but he was getting used to it. It was rather nice anyway. Grimacing, he tried to understand his math homework. He hated trig. Sighing, he reread the beginning of the chapter. Maybe if the teacher weren't as boring as a piece of rotten cheese this would be easier. Roxas was vaguely aware that he was doodling something with his right hand but all his concentration was given over to the math.

"I think I see." He muttered to himself before going back to the question. "Hm… huh?" Blinking, he looked down at the doodle on his page. It was the math problem complete with a solution… and a little doodle of a stick figure hanging off the top of the triangle, as if he'd hung himself in despair. Roxas examined it for a moment, fascinated. It didn't even look like his writing. "I think my sub-consciousness is trying to tell me something." What, he wasn't entirely sure. That it had had enough maths? But the homework was due the next day. Erasing the little figure but keeping the rest, Roxas went onto the next problem. He glanced up with a blink as he thought he heard a soft chuckle, then frowned before going back to his work. His imagination was active today.

He missed the twinkle of green in the mirror.

* * *

Roxas settled in grimly for another day at school. He hated school. Loathed it in fact. Not due to the teachers, they were merely boring, but due to the other students.

Roxas was gay. He'd come to accept that fact and leveled with his parents who were pretty cool with it. It probably helped that his mother's sister was lesbian. Roxas didn't promote his sexuality but he didn't deny it either. In a small town high school that was roughly equivalent to wearing a rainbow t-shirt with the words "THIS BOY LIKES COCK" stamped on in neon lettering. In short, everyone knew he was a fag. A lot of them were not at all nice about it.

Lunch was the worst. He typically ate by himself in a corner. His friends had all deserted him when the truth about his sexuality came out, as if he might contaminate them. But to get to that corner he often had to make it past the other tables. Roxas was sick to death of being tripped and jeered at. Usually he ignored it but today it pissed him off more than usual. Roxas felt a flame of rage slowly growing in the back of his mind and it almost frightened him. Yet… it felt good. Very good. Frowning to himself he settled down to eat his meal, uneasily aware of that flickering anger. Maybe he'd talk to his father about it. He'd had a temper too when he was younger, or so Roxas had heard.

Maybe he could help.

* * *

_The entity watched, fascinated, as the boy made his way through the day._

_Things had changed. How long had it been since it had been placed in this living death? It didn't know. A very long time. There were moving carriages that had no horses. Boxes that showed images from far away. Plundering the child's mind, it soon learned many new words and definitions. The magical box was television. The horseless carriages were cars. Airplane? A machine that flew through the AIR? How could that be without magic?_

_The entity was glad it hadn't acted too quickly. The world was very interesting and it desperately wanted to know more. It would infect this boy with its darkness until the child was its slave and use him to see the world. Yes. An excellent plan. It settled in to plan Roxas' corruption. It could already see an opening and it would be a pleasure to use._

_The entity loathed bullies._


	2. The Island

"What to make for breakfast?" Roxas muttered as he considered. It was Saturday morning. His mother and father were walking the dog so he was in charge of breakfast. Not that they would have minded if he just had a bowl of cornflakes, but Roxas liked cooking. "Hmm."

_Pancakes. _Roxas considered the thought for a moment. It would take a bit of work but it would be nice. _With maple syrup._

"Okay." Roxas said to himself and pulled the package of pancake mix out of the pantry. He began stirring together the batter and pouring it out onto the griddle. The new gas stove his father had put in was great, it got heat going in no time. Soon he heard the front door open and looked up with a smile as the two of them came in. Roxas' father was an older man with a ready smile and steel grey hair. He'd heard it was blonde when he was younger so Roxas anticipated he would someday go grey as well. But that was fine. It suited his father and would likely suit him.

"That smells wonderful!" His father sniffed the air appreciatively. "Are you cooking any ham?" Roxas blinked at that. He wasn't the only one smelling it?

"No, just pancakes. Do you smell ham too mom?" She looked at them both as if they were insane. "No?"

"No, I don't smell ham. But I'll buy one for you, how's that?" She said, irritated but amused and Roxas couldn't help but laugh.

"With spices on?" His father said wistfully and she nodded. "That would be wonderful Mary." Roxas gagged theatrically as his parents kissed. Fortunately the dog interrupted the disgusting PDA with a bark and wiggle. Roxas smiled and flipped him a piece of the pancake which he downed with gusto. The medium sized pooch was a mix from the pound but a great companion with floppy ears and a very wet tongue. Roxas knelt down to pet him and got a good bathing. The blonde felt oddly wistful as he petted the dog and wondered why. He saw Max every day.

Soon everyone was eating breakfast and Roxas lost himself in the taste of the maple syrup on really good pancakes. He wasn't sure why he was enjoying it so much but didn't question it. He felt great! Ready to take on the day and have an adventure. Speaking of which…

"Mom, dad? Do you mind if I go down to the island?" He asked after swallowing a mouthful of pancake. His mother looked ambivalent but his father answered immediately.

"After you show me your essay." Roxas smiled at his father's demand. He'd already finished it. No doubt his father would find a few things that could use correcting but he'd be willing to let that go until tomorrow. Roxas was sure he'd be satisfied with the level of work done.

"Sure dad." Roxas said amiably and his mother looked relieved. Roxas could guess why. His older brother Cloud had always been a huge challenge for them and some of that still spilled onto the younger blonde. But he wasn't Cloud and they really didn't need to worry. His father laughed.

"You're such a good student! I should just stop checking." Roxas shook his head with a smile. He'd have missed it if his dad stopped checking up on him and knew it. "Oh, speaking of students, your brother is coming to visit for a week before classes start up again."

"Really?" Roxas felt a thrill at that. He really liked Cloud. They had been surprisingly close despite the age difference and his older brother had shown him how to fly a kite. "That would be great. It's been a long time since I've seen him." Well over a year. The last time Cloud had come home Roxas had been in the hospital for a broken arm. Completely unrelated and horrible timing. Cloud had come to the hospital to see him but it just hadn't been the same. "Wait. Is he taking my room again?" Roxas said suspiciously. His mother smiled as his father coughed.

"I'm afraid so. He's bringing a, ah, friend." His father said tactfully. Tact that was immediately wasted as Roxas' eyes widened.

"Cloud has a girlfriend?!?" He said, amazed. He knew his brother was straight but Roxas had seen him stammer and turn red whenever he tried to actually talk to a woman. Well, maybe that had gone down over time. Still. "What's her name? What's she like?"

"Tifa. She owns the bar he works at. They've been dating almost a year, he says, and it might be serious." Roxas' mother sounded pleased and he could guess why. Cloud wasn't interested in taking up the family business, which was fine since Roxas was into it. But his parents had been worried about the older blonde. They weren't sure where his English and philosophy classes were taking him but owning a bar was a good, solid living. Not to mention that they might see grandkids someday. Roxas wouldn't be giving them that. He was pretty sure he didn't like kids at all.

"Well, that's great. I hope it works out for them." He really did. Cloud could be prickly and difficult but he was also loyal and kind. He deserved to have a good girl in his life. Roxas smiled as he stood. "See you later."

"Homework first!" His father stood with a grunt and Roxas laughed, going to fetch the papers. His father gave them a careful read and made a few notes in the margins before nodding. "Good. You've done a lot of work. Just correct a few sentences and you'll be fine." He handed the essay back and Roxas nodded.

"Yes dad." The corrections probably weren't really necessary but it never hurt to humor the old man. Roxas smiled at the thought as he grabbed a water bottle and got on his bike. It was a long trip down to the beach.

As he biked Roxas was more aware of the world around him than he had been in ages. The wind rippled through his hair and he could catch the sweet smell of midsummer. It was an achingly familiar smell, full of growing things and Roxas had been oblivious to it for years. Now it caught his attention and overwhelmed the haunting smell of baked ham. And as he biked Roxas noticed the patches of wildflowers beside the dirt road. The beauty of the little stream he crossed over, gurgling away beneath the bridge. Roxas sighed as he biked, feeling happy beyond words. This was the perfect day.

It soured a little when he reached the beach and realized some of his old friends were there. Riku and Sora were racing along the beach as Kairi and Selphie watched. None of them were his friends anymore, they'd all basically freaked when they found out he liked the cock and left him in the cold. Lips twisted in a bitter little smile, Roxas walked down the pier. He wasn't sure any of them had noticed him and he preferred they didn't. They might try to talk to him and that would be awkward at best. There were several rowboats and little fishing craft tied up. Roxas found his families rowboat and climbed in, gripping the oars and beginning the short trip to the island. It wasn't far, perhaps a thirty minute trip. By the end his hands were a little sore but not too bad. He pulled the rowboat up onto the beach, past the high tide point. It was better safe than sorry. Then he took a break, sitting beneath a paopu tree and sipping his water bottle as he looked over the bright blue ocean.

_Beautiful. _Roxas smiled at the thought.

"Yes, it is." He agreed with himself. It was beautiful. The sun glittered on the sea like a thousand jewels and the sand was so white. It was a perfect day, although there were some clouds gathering in the west. Roxas wasn't too concerned about that. The weather forecast had said everything would be fine. Taking a final sip of the water bottle he pushed himself to his feet. He knew every inch of the island but somehow, it seemed new today.

It would have been more fun with other Sora and Riku around to joke and roughhouse with, but Roxas was used to being alone. He vaguely wondered if Cloud and Tifa would like to come to the island while they were here. Maybe they would. It was a romantic spot in the evening. Discarding that thought Roxas took the scenic route through the woods, hiking up a long dirt path. The island was not perfectly flat, it got pretty high in fact, but that made for some lovely paths with plenty of interesting features.

After a long, rather boring hike Roxas reached the first truly remarkable thing. He stopped to admire it and felt almost shocked at the beauty. It was a little odd. He'd seen the waterfall before, the way the water tinkled as it splashed down the stones and formed a rainbow when the sun hit it just so… but today, it was glorious. Why was everything so beautiful? Not that he was going to complain. Roxas grinned as he thought about it. Normally, illegal drugs were required for this kind of mood. He was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

He found a warm, sun baked stone to sit on for a bit. It was slightly shaded by the trees and Roxas sighed as he looked over the plants. There were water flowers clustered on the banks of the spring and a few water lilies beneath the waterfall. Roxas wasn't going to go anywhere near them. He'd learned his lesson the first year he'd come through here and that lesson had been that there was a lot of poison ivy around the waterfall. He had no wish to repeat the experience.

_What happens if you get poison ivy on your crotch?_ Roxas snickered at the random thought.

"Great balls of fire!" Roxas' imagination supplied the sound of laughter and he smiled to himself. He often found his thoughts sounded like people he knew, but this one was new. The voice his thoughts were taking lately sounded warm and masculine. Was it a TV announcer? Someone in town? It had to have been someone he'd heard before. Roxas amused himself trying to put a face to the voice but couldn't find anything plausible. Finally getting bored, he pulled himself to his feet and blinked as he spotted something orange on the ground. "Hey, a paopu fruit!" Picking up the fallen fruit he examined it, carefully testing to make sure it wasn't rotten. It wasn't so he tore off a piece and nibbled it as he walked up the path. He was starting to get hungry, it was probably lunch time, but there was plenty of tropical fruit on the island. Roxas was very well acquainted with the fruits of the Destiny Islands and was sure he could find a good lunch.

So it proved. Several coconuts and paopu fruit later, Roxas had finally reached his destination. A little cliff, it had required him going through the thankfully poison ivy free brush. But that was good, very few other people knew about this cliff. It was his special place and he settled in, looking out over the forest and down across the sea and to the mainland. He could see the town from here, the tiny houses and the little dirt road. He couldn't make out Sora and the others though. They were simply too small. For a long moment Roxas enjoyed the view, feeling a strange sense of awe. It was like he was seeing everything for the first time.

"Mmm, tired." He finally muttered and looked for a good place to take a nap. It had been a lot of exercise getting here. Roxas found a good spot beneath a tree and curled up on a patch of soft grass. He'd just take a short little nap. Then he could start back home.

Just a short little nap.

* * *

_Roxas was in a cellar. It wasn't a place he'd ever seen before. It was dirty, dark and damp. He could clearly see everything despite the lack of light and could see the crops of mushrooms and the tiny, scattered bones of dead rats. If this had been real the stench of decay and filth would have choked him. But it was merely a dream and Roxas found that he was not distressed at all. This was a comfortable place._

"_Hmm mm mm… mmmMmmMmm mmm…" Roxas watched as his hands reached out and plucked a small mushroom. Tiny baby hands began to carefully peel the mushroom, little black nails delicately parting the gills and the stem, exposing the white inner flesh. "Hmm… mmMmm mmm…" The humming was almost pretty, a meaningless but original tune. Roxas found it soothing. Then the hands paused as a door opened. Light shone down into the cellar and Roxas cringed. Fear and dull hatred snarled through him as heavy footsteps started down the stairs. There was no give in that tread. It was the step of someone used to getting her own way, no matter the consequences._

_Light flared as a lantern was lifted and Roxas had a brief glimpse of red hair and a beautiful face with blue eyes as cold as the harshest winter. Hard hands gripped his wrists and he snarled like an animal as he was pulled to his feet. The woman slapped him sharply and Roxas felt a jolt of shock. He was only dreaming this but where had this come from? The pain felt real, the blood in his mouth._

"_Do not defy me, brat, or your suffering will be greater than any you have ever imagined." Came the low voiced threat and Roxas felt himself cringing. The woman dragged him out of the cellar but Roxas saw nothing of the rest of the house. His eyes had gone back to the cellar door and the comforting darkness there._

_He wanted to be back in the cellar. The cellar was safe. The cellar was home._

* * *

"Hck!" Roxas woke with a start from his dream, blinking as a large raindrop hit him on the cheek. "What…?" He glanced around groggily, slowly remembering where he was. How long had he been sleeping? Checking his watch Roxas was dismayed to realize it had been hours! It had only felt like a few minutes. Another raindrop hit him and Roxas blinked. It was awfully dark out wasn't it? He staggered to his feet and surveyed the situation. "That damn weatherman was talking out his bunghole!" Roxas raged as he saw the dark sky overhead.

The weather was looking very bad. The rowboat would be fine since he'd put it well above the high tide but the sea was already beginning to look pretty dangerous. Usually this little inlet was safe enough but not in rough weather. Oh no. It was possible to get pulled right out to sea when things got rough and Roxas' stomach knotted at the thought. That was dangerous, very dangerous, but he needed to get home. His parents would be furious if he didn't get home! Hurrying down the path he completely ignored all the sights. He needed to get home right now. The rain kept increasing and by the time he reached the beach it was a torrent.

Reaching the boat Roxas looked at the sea and almost sobbed. It was rough, so very rough. Could he make it home in that? Taking a deep breath he started getting the boat ready. He didn't have a choice. He needed to get back –

_No, don't. It's too dangerous. You won't make it. _Roxas shook his head violently at the thought.

"I have to! My parents will be so worried." They'd probably be calling the police and the coast guard. There would be a huge search and it would just be a nightmare. His parents would be so disappointed and the kids at school… Roxas shook his head and began pulling the boat down.

_You're not thinking clearly. Your parents will be far more upset if they never see their son again. _Roxas paused, wavering as he saw the waves breaking against the shore. The clouds were so heavy it was almost as dark as nightfall. He couldn't see the opposite side. _Find a place to hide until the storm is over. Maybe they won't realize you didn't come home. Maybe they'll think you went to a friends._

"Don't be stupid. They won't think that." Roxas muttered but felt a fluttering hope. There was some chance that his parents would go to bed early and not notice he wasn't there. They didn't have family dinners on weekends. "…Damn." Groaning in frustration he pulled the boat back up the beach. He couldn't do it. It was too dark and the waves were too high. Not to mention that the boat was filling up with water and Roxas was soaked. Pushing wet bangs out of his eyes he tried to think of where to go. Then he remembered. It would make for a miserable night but Sora and Riku had shown him a cave once. It was their special place like the cliff was his.

_A cave would be perfect. Yes. I will keep you warm. _Roxas didn't question the thought, didn't think about it at all as he tried to find his way to the cave in the dark and the rain.

There were more important things to worry about than errant thoughts.


	3. Dreams and Doubts

_The entity was a little shaken by the day it had experienced._

_It was chained to the mirror but due to its dual nature, that binding was faulty. The silks and holy symbols had muffled it but with that barrier gone the spirit within could venture forth freely. It could reach far past the house if it wanted to but that was easiest if it had a host. A host like Roxas._

_But it hated the necessity. It wanted to walk in the daylight for itself, wanted to feel the breeze in spiky red hair. It had never experienced that when it was alive… why was it only given that gift now when it could not fully enjoy it? For a moment it seethed in disappointment and anger. But gradually those emotions died into dull resignation. Wrapping what little power it had over the sleeping child, it settled in to watch. Roxas was very pretty asleep. If only it had a body to pet his golden hair and look into those angelic blue eyes. What would Roxas think if he could see what watched over him? Probably be disgusted and horrified. Just like everyone else. The entity ignored the bitter tang of truth and settled in to guard._

_It had plans. The boy could not be allowed to die too soon._

* * *

Roxas woke up in the morning feeling surprisingly refreshed. Despite spending a night on cold stone he was miraculously free of aches and pains. Even odder, he was dry. He should still have been soaked by last night's downpour. But he didn't ponder it long.

"My parents are going to kill me!" Running out of the cave he made it to the beach in record time and grabbed the rowboat. He had to upend it a bit to get the rainwater out but soon he was in the ocean and rowing hard. The sea was a little choppy and the sky overhead was overcast, but nothing he couldn't manage. Huffing and puffing he grabbed his bike and began the long trip home. He was about halfway there when a car passing by in the opposite direction screeched to a halt. Looking up in surprise Roxas saw someone familiar getting out of the driver's seat.

"Roxas!" Leon, Sora's father. Peering at the car Roxas realized that Sora and Riku were both in the backseat. What were they doing here? "Everyone is looking for you! Where have you been?" Roxas winced as he realized his parents must have noticed his absence. And likely Sora or Riku had spotted him at the beach and mentioned it when his parents started calling around to all his old friends.

"I was caught on the island by the storm." He said briefly as Leon frowned at him. "I didn't want to risk being taken out to sea." That would have been a nightmare. Leon's frown eased a bit.

"Yes, that was what we were all worried about. Well, hop in, I'll take you home." Roxas wanted to refuse but went along with a sigh. Leon got his bike strapped to the roof handily and Roxas slid into the front seat beside him. The brunette put the car into gear and made a quick u-turn. That made Roxas wince. The road was just barely wide enough for it.

"Wow, we thought you were a goner!" Sora. Roxas managed a thin smile as the younger boy poked him in the shoulder. "That must have been awful, sleeping on the island. I'm surprised you're not soaked!" Roxas looked down at himself at the reminder. That was a little odd.

"I slept in that cave of yours. It actually wasn't bad." Surprisingly so. Sora looked dubious but Riku spoke up.

"Well, cave men probably slept there for centuries. We found arrowheads." Roxas tilted his head to one side. That was the first he'd heard of that. "And some pottery shards." Sora huffed.

"I still think that was a crack pipe!" Roxas stared at him, taken aback, as Riku looked a little embarrassed. Leon glanced back at the two boys.

"How would you know what a crack pipe looks like Sora?" He enquired and his son immediately shut his mouth and looked embarrassed. Riku snickered and Roxas couldn't help but smile. He'd rather missed the two of them. Although this would only be temporary. As soon as they were back in school with the other kids he was sure his old friends would go back to ignoring him. Pushing away the unpalatable thought, Roxas chatted with Sora and Riku. He felt really badly when Leon pulled into their driveway and he saw his mother talking with the local sheriff. How many people had he gotten worried?

"I found him!" Leon announced as he got out of the car and Roxas winced as his mother rushed over to him to give him a massive hug. Then she immediately held him at arms length and glared at him.

"You are so grounded young man!" She exclaimed as Roxas winced. He could hear Sora giggling from the car and Riku telling him to hush. This would be all over the school tomorrow. Oh wait, it probably was already, his parents would have called everyone. Leon cleared his throat and his mother blinked at him.

"He was just being sensible ma'am. The storm caught him on the island and he thought it would be too dangerous to come back." Leon said respectfully and Roxas' mother hesitated. That was exactly what they had been worried most about.

"Well, still. He should have come home when the storm was brewing up." She said, a touch mollified. "Your father is out looking for you. Come on, let's go inside and give him a call. Thank you Sheriff, but it looks like it was a false alarm." She said to the Sheriff who nodded.

"Just glad he's alright ma'am. And we haven't called the coast guard yet so no harm done." Roxas was relieved at that. He knew how much effort went into those kinds of searches and was very glad they hadn't started yet. "Might want to watch the weather a bit more closely or bring your cell with you." Roxas winced at that. He should have brought his cell phone but just forgotten it.

"Yes sir." Roxas was quickly dragged indoors and took a seat as his mother called his father. "Mom… I fell asleep. I didn't notice the storm coming up and the weatherman said everything was going to be fine." He said as soon as there was a gap in the conversation. His mother turned to glare at him as she hung up the phone.

"You're still in deep trouble young man!" She snapped but then immediately softened. "Oh Roxas. I'm just so glad you're alright." Roxas blinked as his mother sniffed and walked over to give him another hug. He hesitated a moment, stiff and uncertain before hugging her back.

_She loves you. _Roxas blinked at such an obvious thought and also the hurt, almost angry tone to it. He was very imaginative and his thoughts were often in other people's voices but they usually sounded like how he was feeling. This one… didn't. That was odd.

"Of course she does…" Roxas mumbled to himself as he comforted his mother. Then the door opened and his mother let go of him in time to let his father give him a rough hug.

"Roxas! Where have you been? What happened?" Roxas sighed and gave his father the same explanation he had his mother. "You showed good sense not going into the water. We were afraid you had been lost at sea." His father seemed to think about it a moment. "I don't think any punishment is necessary. Do you Mary?" His mother blinked, surprised.

"But he terrified me! I have more grey hairs! See?" Roxas looked, unable to find any evidence of grey. His father laughed, a low, rumbling sound.

"You're as beautiful as ever. Hmm… I know. Roxas, tomorrow you can help the pastor clean out the attic again." Roxas bit back a groan. Again? "He wants to disassemble a lot of the furniture and start to bring it down. Sora and Riku will be there helping. Between the three of you, you should be able to manage."

"Yes sir." Roxas wasn't looking forward to it but he was sure he wasn't getting out of it. Besides, it could be worse. The last time he'd done something this scary he'd lost his computer privileges for a month. That was worse than a morning of hard work. His father patted him on the back and Roxas had to smile.

"We're just glad you're alright Roxas." His father said warmly. Roxas was vaguely aware of a grumble in his mind but ignored it. "Mary, what's for lunch?"

"Baked ham, since the two of you seem to want it so badly!" She said brightly. Roxas laughed as he realized the smell wasn't just his imagination this time. "Also peas and mashed potatoes. My poor baby, you must be starving." Roxas blushed as his stomach grumbled in answer. He hadn't eaten a thing since the fruits the previous day and he was, in fact, hungry enough to eat the table. "Here, have some bread and cheese for a snack. The ham won't be done for another half hour." Roxas dug ate the roll and cheese quickly. He was sure he'd have no trouble fitting in the ham.

He was a growing boy, after all.

* * *

Roxas tossed and turned at night, dropping into an uneasy sleep. And as he slept he dreamed, but the dreams were not his own.

_The little boy idly tested his bonds. Roxas felt a strange enjoyment as the thick leather and wires cut into tender skin. The pain was a good feeling. The pain meant he was alive. For now._

_The woman was standing in the edge of a diagram. Roxas tentatively identified it as a pentagram although it was different. There was very intricate writing along the edges of the lines and it looked like it had been drawn in blood. She went up to the boy and stabbed him carelessly in the leg. Roxas heard himself grunt at the new pain and he lifted his head, feeling hate snarling through him. He tested the bonds again but they were much too firm. Even if he had been free attacking her would have been much too dangerous. Roxas flinched inside as the boy dreamed about it. The things he would do if he had the cold woman at his mercy…_

_Using the blood she finished her diagram and began to chant._

_"Ered'nash ban galar. Graz'zt! Vrish! X av ban galar. Graz'zt!" The chanting went on and on as a baleful light began to fill the room. Roxas was fascinated. Had he seen a movie like this? He must have. But it seemed so real. The boy lifted his head as a puff of black vapor filled the pentacle and solidified into a man._

_But not a man. No. His eyes glowed with a dangerous green light and his handsome skin was blacker than the deepest __Africa__. It was true gunmetal black, like nothing Roxas had seen before in his life. He wore armor fashioned with ominous faces and there was a great sword at his side. It dripped acid that sizzled as it hit the floor and Roxas immediately knew that any wounds dealt by it would be painful in the extreme. Dozens of gold hoops studded his ears and small black horns curved out of his hair._

_"What do you want, woman? Haven't you gotten enough already?" He sounded somewhere between bored and annoyed. His head turned and he met the boy's eyes for a moment. "The brat is growing, I see."_

_"Children do that." She said in matching irritation and he grinned, white fangs flashing in the red light. "You know why I'm here. The wizard-priests have been a thorn in my side for a far too long. I need the help of your succubi…" Then she switched to the other language she had used to call up the man. Roxas wondered what this was. Was that man supposed to be a demon? He looked nothing like Roxas had imagined. But then, what did he know about demons? Not that he believed in demons in the first place. This was just a dream._

_The boy lay his head down and stared at the wall. Roxas could sense his desolation. He'd been through this many, many times before and knew better than to ask the man in the pentagram for help. His place in this was as a source of blood, nothing more. But when the conversation ended the man said something unexpected._

_"The boy is maturing. You should find an outlet for his urges or you'll have a real fight on your hands." With those words he vanished and the light began to fade, replaced by the flickering of lanterns. The boy lifted his head in surprise to see the cold eyed woman frowning at him. There was a calculating look on her face that Roxas didn't like in the least. And from what he could feel the boy didn't like it either. But he didn't try to resist as she unchained him and dragged him back to the cellar._

_He was glad to go back into the cellar. Anything to be away from her._

* * *

"Ugh." Roxas rubbed his eyes, feeling tired as he ate some yogurt mixed with corn flakes. His father loved eating it that way and Roxas had developed a taste for it.

He felt so tired though. His sleep had been fragmented with those odd dreams. They felt so real yet they were like nothing Roxas had ever imagined. Had he read about something like that? Watched a movie? But a little boy trapped in a cellar and used for demonic rituals didn't seem like a good concept for a movie. Too depressing for one.

Shaking away the thought Roxas finished his breakfast and began getting ready for church. He would have to sit through the sermon then join Riku and Sora in the cleaning. The only thing he'd be getting out of it this time was a good lunch. The pastor's wife had promised to make them all tuna sandwiches when they were done. Roxas put on good slacks and a nice white dress shirt. They were comfortable enough to work in when church was done.

The only thing he worried about was Riku and Sora. The thought haunted him through the sermon and made him dread getting down to business. How would they act? It would be bad if they ignored him and almost worse if they didn't. It had hurt being dumped by his old friends. If they acted completely differently when they were alone with him Roxas would think even less of them than he already did. As it turned out, though, he was in for a surprise.

"Roxas?" Roxas frowned, looking up from the work he was doing. He was busy pulling the drawers out of a dresser. But Sora looked like he was standing on thumbtacks. "I'm – I'm reallysorryIhurtyou." He blurted out the words so fast Roxas had to pause to decipher the content. When he figured it out the blonde blinked.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." Roxas said dismissively. Really, he was over the pain of his friends deserting him. Just being left alone was enough. From the look on Sora's face, though, he didn't agree. "Really Sora, it's fine."

"No it's not!" Sora insisted and Roxas frowned. "When – when dad asked me if I'd seen him and I told him we had, he asked why you went to the island alone. And he – he had a talk with us about it." Roxas winced at the thought. Talk about making them squirm! Sora had probably been about ready to die and Riku couldn't have been far behind. "And he's right about how awful it is to just dump your friends over something so stupid. So would you come to my place next Saturday?" Roxas' breath caught in his throat at the invitation. Was Sora serious? Back when they had all been friends Saturday had been game night. They always got together at someone's house and played stupid games like Twister or DDR until they finally had to go home. Sometimes, they stayed overnight as well in a giant slumber party. But they had just stopped inviting him and Roxas hadn't asked why.

For a moment he considered refusing the invitation. It would be very awkward. But then his gaze slipped over to Riku and he realized the other boy was watching him with an almost pleading expression. They really wanted him to come? Really? Roxas swallowed a lump in his throat. After almost a year of being alone… if he could really have his friends back…

_They're just using you. They'll only hurt you again. _There was a bitter certainty in the thought and Roxas swallowed. He opened his mouth to refuse but something else came out instead.

"S-Sure." Roxas squeaked and heard a disgusted sigh. _I have to take the chance. _He answered himself. But there was no reply. Well, of course not.

The voice in his head was only his stubborn imagination.


	4. Hate in the Dark

_The boy in his dreams tore apart a rat carcass. There were always more rats in the basement, no matter how many he killed. The cold woman threw down slops for him but he preferred to wait for the rats and eat them instead. And the mushrooms. Those weren't bad either._

_He stopped eating as the door opened and tensed, cringing back against the filthy stone. But there was something different this time. He could hear a young, panicked female voice rose in pleading. He blinked at the sound of a slap and then flesh hitting wood as someone fell down the stairs. Then the door shut again and there was nothing but panicked sobbing._

_The boy could see perfectly well in the dark and watched, fascinated, as the blonde girl tried to crawl back up the stairs. She had soft, shoulder length hair and was very pretty in a delicate sort of way. The gown she was wearing had once been pure white but now it was torn and stained with blood. The boy didn't have to wonder how that had happened. But what was she doing down here? The woman had never put anyone else with him before. He shifted forward and she turned around with a small scream._

"_Who – who's there?" The boy paused as he realized she couldn't see in the dark. He lifted his hand and fire flickered at his fingertips. She cringed back, her eyes wide as saucers and a hand pressed against her mouth to muffle a scream._

"_I am –"_

_Brrrrrrring!_

* * *

"Oh man." Roxas rubbed his eyes. He hadn't slept well last night. The dreams of being a boy in a cellar weren't stopping, although he'd noticed in the last one that the child seemed to be turning into a teenager. It was weird, his dreams had never been so realistic before.

"Hey fag! What're you doing?" Roxas tensed, lips tightening at those taunting words.

"Fuck off Rikki." He snarled back before he thought about it and there was mocking laughter. Roxas felt a deep flare of anger and his fists clenched. He wanted to _hurt_ them. If only he could. But his mother and father had always been death on fighting. Before, he'd always walked away and ignored the taunts. Sometimes he had to run when the other boys tried to make it physical.

_Fuck that. You can take them._ Roxas was just about to shake his head at the errant thought when a hand slapped down on his shoulder. Rage flickered through him like black flames, seductive and beckoning. Roxas felt vaguely surprised at himself. He'd always had a temper but never quite like this.

"You're not just a fag, you're a coward." The other boy said and Roxas felt something in himself snap. It had been heading that way for a long time but the voice of his imagination and this homophobic bastard were just the last straw. "You – OOF!" The other boy grunted and doubled over as Roxas turned and punched him solidly in the gut.

The next few minutes were a strange combination of blurred and horribly clear for Roxas. He couldn't remember exactly how he'd done it but the sound of Rikki's arm breaking in his grasp was quite clear. So was the sick pleasure he felt in breaking it. The way the blood ran down his knuckles and puddle on the ground –

"ROXAS!" Roxas blinked, stepping back from his rage as hard hands dragged him off a sobbing boy. "What are you doing?!?" Leon. He was a teacher at the school. Roxas tried to think. What was he doing? The cooling rage left a strange, empty feeling behind as it departed.

"Teaching them that just because I'm a fag doesn't mean I'm a coward." He said sullenly and Leon gritted his teeth before shaking him. Roxas almost bit his tongue, startled by the physical gesture from the other man.

"You broke Rikki's arm! You'll be lucky not to be expelled for this. Go to the Principle's office immediately!" Leon ordered. Roxas felt like punching him too for a moment then nodded meekly, going to the Principle's office as Leon took care of the other students. He knew, abstractly, that he should feel bad about breaking anyone's arm. But he somehow couldn't find it in him to care.

They had deserved it.

* * *

"I can't believe this Roxas." His mother fumed as she drove him home. Roxas just looked out the window. "What got into you?" She sounded concerned as well as angry and Roxas felt a twinge of guilt.

The Principle had found his attitude alarming. Roxas hadn't managed to feign any guilt over what he'd done yet the Principle was also a nearby neighbor and knew this was pretty out of character for the blonde boy. He'd tentatively decided that Roxas was a bullied child who had simply been pushed too far, which was quite close to the truth. So he wasn't going to be expelled but he was suspended for a week and criminal charges might be filed. Roxas wasn't too worried about that. It had been him against four other kids, self-defense would be an easy case to make. Roxas smiled a little to himself. Watching Law and Order all the time was finally good for something. But his mother was waiting for an answer.

"I don't know mom. It was just too much all of a sudden." He finally said. "I'm sorry." For causing grief for her and father, not for what he'd done. Roxas didn't regret that a bit. His mother heaved a sigh.

"Well, I suppose there's a positive side to everything. You'll be able to hang out with Cloud. He's arriving in two days you know." Roxas blinked. He'd entirely forgotten that. "But you are going to be completely grounded until he arrives, you understand? And no computer for a month." Roxas winced at that.

"But mom, my crops will die!" The look she gave him was flinty and Roxas sighed. "Alright, alright." There was a tittering in his mind and Roxas scowled at his overactive imagination. "It's not funny." He mumbled to himself and heard real laughter. Strange. It sounded just like the boy in the cellar. That had to have been a movie he'd seen somewhere… "Hey mom? Did we ever watch a movie or documentary about a kid locked in a cellar eating rats?" Roxas suddenly asked and his mom gave him a startled look before paying attention to the road.

"Not that I know of. Maybe you should google it in a month." Roxas winced at the reminder and hunched down in his seat. "Wait until your father gets home…" She grumbled and Roxas winced again. He wasn't looking forward to that.

It was just as bad as he thought it would be. He had to endure a very long lecture about responsibility and turning the other cheek. How fighting was never right and how much trouble he was in. Roxas had to hold back the desire to argue his case. Really, why should he have to put up with this? Cloud never would have. But then, Cloud had been a bit of a troublemaker and Roxas wasn't. His parents had higher expectations for him. Sometimes Roxas wished he'd done things just to lower those expectations. Why did he have to be perfect all the time? Roxas pulled himself back to reality just in time to catch the tail end of his father's lecture.

"Yes sir." He said tonelessly. Supper that night was very strained and Roxas retreated to his room as soon as he could.

* * *

_The entity was pleased with the progress it was making. It was successfully fueling the flames of hate and rage in the boy's heart. The boy was falling more under its sway._

_But how he… yes, he was still male, even in this bodiless prison… how he longed to actually be there! Touching the boy, stroking that blonde hair, making him pant in need and arch off the bed as sharp nails punctured skin and hot blood dripped onto the bed… and he would taste it, oh yes, that sweet taste like warm honey and –_

_The entity suddenly became aware that the boy was reacting to his fantasies in his sleep. The way his breathing had speeded up and the way the blankets had tented out was fascinating. Briefly he considered making things worse but then desisted. Messing up the blankets might get Roxas in even more trouble with his parents._

_It never occurred to him to wonder why that mattered._

Roxas erotic dreams of being ravished by a red haired man slowly vanished, although not without a bit of a struggle on the blonde's part. They were replaced with more dreams that felt oddly like memories.

"_Please don't hurt me." The girl whispered, back pressed so hard against the wall the boy wouldn't have been surprised if it hurt. He snorted and the fire went out. Her eyes flicked around desperately, completely blind in the dark of the cellar._

"_I will if you keep whining on about it. Why did she throw you down here?" The young man really had no idea. Did the cold woman mean for him to kill her and eat her? Briefly he considered the idea. It was vaguely repulsive although he wasn't entirely sure why. Because she was of the same kind? But she wasn't. That thought puzzled Roxas. What did this boy think he was?_

"_I – I don't know. Something about two birds and one stone." She seemed ready to cry. "My name is Namine. I'm a junior priestess." That explained the white clothing. The boy was not particularly surprised. The woman hated priest and priestesses. Although why was she keeping this one alive?_

"_Hm. Well, I'm her son." He said and had the satisfaction of seeing Namine goggle at him._

"_She keeps her son down HERE? Even if you are…" She stopped and pressed a hand against her mouth. What had she been about to say? Deformed? The boy just laughed. That was amusing._

"_I am what she wanted me to be." From her expression Namine found that appalling. Or maybe it was just the smell. "Want some rat?" He said in a half-hearted attempt at being a good host. "Or mushrooms?" Namine looked like she was about to throw up. If she did the rats would probably eat it._

"_N – No thank you." She huddled on the steps and they were both silent for a moment. The young man struggled to think of something to say. He wasn't used to dealing with people. But this was a chance to actually talk to someone he didn't hate. There had to be something to say._

"_What's it like being a priestess?" He finally asked and she hesitated before answering._

"_It's fine. About like being a priestess anywhere." The boy rolled his eyes. What would he know about priestessing? All he knew about it was that his mother loathed them. Which was actually a fairly good recommendation in his book. Although that was a rather small book with very large lettering. Namine seemed to realize her answer wasn't sufficient and continued haltingly. "Actually, I was just a novice. But I was a very talented seer." The boy listened as she told him a bit about her life in the convent. Roxas got a picture of a very austere lifestyle but he could tell the young man found it amazingly luxurious. Not a surprise really given the way he lived. "I was traveling to Rhyni for training when I was kidnapped." She sounded close to tears again and the boy just nodded._

"_She doesn't like priests or priestesses and she's scared of seers. You won't leave here alive." It was simply a fact but she started to weep at that calm declaration. The boy was taken aback and Roxas wanted to smack him. How insensitive could you be? "What's wrong?"_

"_What do you mean what's wrong?!? You just said I'm going to die!" She hiccupped and continued to cry. The boy hesitated then scooted forward, gently resting a hand on her knee. Roxas saw that his nails were blacker and sharper than they had been in the earlier dreams. They looked razor sharp and deadly._

"_Death is not bad. Death is an ending to pain." He consoled her but it didn't seem to help. "I wish I could die." It was his second fondest wish. His first was to kill his mother. He also wanted to kill his father but he knew that would happen when hell froze over. Quite literally. Namine swallowed as she realized he was serious._

"_Oh. I – I'm sorry." She looked down at the hand on her knee and hesitated before reaching out to pat the dirty paw. "It must be so horrible living here." He shrugged._

"_It's all I've ever known. It's the rituals I can't stand. But forget about that." He said quickly as she started to ask a question. He didn't want to think about that. "Tell me what outside is like." He knew there was a place with open air and trees and that was outside. He'd caught a few glimpses of it through windows when his mother was dragging him back and forth. It looked like a good place to be if only he could somehow win free of her. Of course, that would never happen. But he could dream._

"_Outside? Um…" Namine hesitated before telling him about the gardens in spring. The boy listened intently to her descriptions and Roxas could feel him trying to imagine what flowers looked like. He wasn't even close but he was giving it a good try._

_Two days later, they were both getting very nervous._

"_She should have given us slops a day ago." The boy muttered to himself as the blonde girl huddled against the stairs, frightened and wary. "What's she playing at?" He had a feeling he knew. Without the slops the rats would stop risking their lives in the cellar and mushrooms could only get them so far. He vented a low growl that made her jump. "Bitch."_

"_I'm sorry." Namine said meekly and he looked at her for a moment in confusion before venting a soft chuckle._

"_Not you. My mother." He'd thought that was obvious but apparently not. "She wants me to eat you." Namine went deathly pale at the thought and tried to press her back through the bricks again._

"_You wouldn't. Would you?" She asked fearfully and he shrugged._

"_Not until I run out of mushrooms. If she wants me to eat you, I don't want to." He tried to defy his mother every way he could. If she wanted him to kill this young priestess than he would refuse just to spite her. Namine looked a bit reassured and he didn't have the heart to remind her that it would make no difference in the long run. His mother was not going to let her leave this place alive._

_Roxas, meanwhile, found himself a little puzzled by the interactions between the boy and the girl. They were trapped together in bad circumstances and clearly liked each other. Yet the young man seemed utterly indifferent to Namine's charms. It seemed almost as if –_

_The door suddenly opened and Roxas was aware more time had passed. The boy snarled like a cornered animal as Namine bolted off the stairs and into the cellar. She was far more afraid of the cold woman than the boy in the dark. She slipped on a bit of dung and he caught her, steadying her carefully to avoid pricking her skin with his sharp claws. The cold woman saw that and scowled._

"_What do you think you're doing child?" She demanded. "What is that girl still doing here?" She shuddered and huddled against him. The cold woman looked at her very hard for a moment. "Haven't you even raped her?" Namine was speechless with shock and Roxas could feel the young man's rage and sudden understanding. This was what his mother had done to address his 'urges'._

"_No, I haven't. Nor will I." He growled back and her eyes flashed. "I would much rather rape you, mother." Namine retched at the thought and pulled away. The boy let her go as the cold woman stiffened. "Although it would make me sick." He taunted her, aware it was an incredibly foolish thing to do. She would –_

"_Y adil Graz'zt! Siff!" She slashed her own arm and the boy screamed. Roxas flinched away at the pain ripping through him, tearing him apart from the inside out. The young man spasmed and twitched on the filthy floor of the cellar as Namine tried frantically to help. "Remember who I am boy. And remember the name of your father." He snarled half-heartedly as the pain began to ebb. "Kill her now." She ordered and he tensed. He couldn't. He liked Namine._

"_No." He said harshly, voice brutalized by the pain. But his mother only smiled coldly and lifted her lantern a bit higher._

"_Then I will have to take her and sacrifice her to your father." She said sweetly and the boy froze. Roxas sensed his indecision and wondered what that meant. From the vague images he knew it was something horrible. "That involves being raped by demons and flayed alive, in case you've forgotten." Namine took a deep breath and suddenly rushed the cold woman. But she was never unprotected and mystical force slammed the young girl into the wall. She crumpled to the ground, dazed and bleeding and the boy suddenly moved._

_Razor sharp claws crossed her throat and Namine blinked at him stupidly as blood flowered across the remains of her white dress. She hardly had time to realize what had happened before it was over and he looked up at his mother, feeling an all new depth to his hatred. He'd always hated her but now it felt like his very gaze should sear her, his sweat should be acid on her skin. She just smiled, amused and contemptuous._

"_Much better. But you're entirely too human for my taste. I'll have to do something about that. For now, she'll bring all the rats you need. Or you could just eat her." She swept back out of the cellar, leaving her son with the corpse of the only friend he'd made in his life. The young man clung to his hate in the dark._

_Hate was all he had._


	5. Accidents Happen

"Hi Roxy." Roxas scowled as Cloud ruffled his hair. Did his older brother always have to treat him like a child? They were sitting together on the front porch. His mother and Tifa were getting acquainted in the kitchen and had shooed the mere males away.

Physically, he and Cloud resembled each other quite a bit although Cloud was far more muscular. They had the same spiky blonde hair and big blue eyes. But mentally, they couldn't have been more different. Cloud had always been the jock. He'd never liked schoolwork and had always been getting in trouble at school. Roxas was the opposite… or at least he had been until recently. As far as he knew Cloud had never managed to put two kids in the hospital and injure a third, all at the same time.

"So what's this I hear about you getting into fights?" Cloud continued and Roxas shook himself back to reality. "I never would have expected that!"

"I bet you didn't expect I'd be gay either." Roxas said crabbily and had the satisfaction of seeing Cloud wince. His brother definitely wasn't into same sex attractions. He felt that anger flare again. Was Cloud going to treat him differently because he was gay? They hadn't seen each other in years.

"Hey, you're still my little brother." Cloud said firmly and Roxas felt his anger ease a bit. "So don't go getting your shorts in a knot. Where did you learn to fight like that?" Roxas frowned and shook his head.

"No where. I just… did it." Roxas wasn't even sure how it had happened. He'd just been furious. Cloud frowned at that. "I was really mad." He admitted, wondering if his brother would understand. He seemed to.

"I know what you mean. I'll have to talk to mom and dad about that." Roxas frowned at him, uncomprehending, but Cloud didn't explain any further. "So what do you think of Tifa? Isn't she great?" Roxas couldn't help but smile at Cloud's enthusiasm.

"She's nice and very pretty. Mom likes her." Roxas privately thought that Tifa had the most amazing set of mammary glands he'd ever seen. He wasn't going to say that out loud though, Cloud might decide to kick his ass and rightly so.

"They both like to cook. By the way, the house smells funny. Kind of like baked ham." Roxas stared at Cloud, taken aback. His brother could smell it too? "Tifa says she can't smell anything but it's pretty strong if you ask me."

"That's so weird." Roxas was fascinated. Mom and Tifa couldn't smell the baked ham scent but all the men could. What did that mean, if anything? "That smell has been in the house ever since I found the mirror at the church." Roxas couldn't see how a mirror could be carrying a baked ham smell though. That just didn't seem possible. Cloud looked interested.

"Oh? Could I see this mirror?" He asked and Roxas nodded with a smile. Jumping to his feet he dashed into the house. He enjoyed showing off his find. "Wow, that's a beauty!" Cloud admired the mirror, touching the frame. "Looks like it might be really old. I'm no connoisseur of antiques, but have you thought of getting this appraised?"

"I've thought of it." Roxas admitted. "But I wouldn't want to sell it, so why bother?" Even if they told him it was worth a couple thousand dollars he wouldn't sell it. The mirror was just too beautiful. "The little antique store charges fifty dollars for an appraisal." Which only made sense but Roxas didn't see any point to it when he definitely wasn't selling the mirror. Cloud nodded.

"Well, it's really nice. I wonder where the church got it?" That was an interesting question but unanswerable. They both went back downstairs to see their mother looking for them. "What d'you need mom?"

"Bread actually. We seem to have run out. Could you take Roxas to the grocery store and get some?" She asked. Cloud nodded with a smile and Roxas shrugged to himself. His older brother certainly didn't need him but it would at least get him out of the house. Roxas suddenly frowned. That reminded him.

"Mom?" He said as Cloud was rooting around for the car keys. "I know I'm grounded, but can I still go to Sora's house? It's the first time they've invited me in months." He looked at her intently, hoping she would understand. She frowned but from the look on her face she got the unspoken message.

"If Leon is still willing to have you over, I don't think that will be a problem. As long as you come right back. No sleeping over." She said briskly and Roxas nodded with an internal sigh of relief. He didn't want to mess things up just as Sora and Riku were willing to get back with him. Although how would they feel about the fight? Roxas snorted to himself. Sora probably wouldn't like it but Riku would probably want to spar. The silver haired boy liked fighting and was taking karate. Roxas vaguely wished he could take karate but he'd never been able to.

He had no idea how prophetic that thought would prove to be.

* * *

_The boy huddled in the dark in a state of pure exhaustion._

_Something had upset the cold woman. He had no idea what but she'd been dragging him out for more and more rituals. Some had been summonings and merely unpleasant. But many had been completely beyond him and for those she had drained his strength to fuel her own. The bond between mother and son was impossible to break and made him peculiarly vulnerable to her magics. The young man sighed and wondered what he should wish for. He loved seeing his mother upset and afraid but this was like slow torture for him. Did he want it to stop or not? Discarding the thought he idly reached for a bone, picking it up and knawing on it. It was a long, heavy bone and it had not come from a rat._

_He'd learned from his time with Namine. Since then his mother had given him many 'presents' although she'd figured out that young boys were what he preferred. He never tried to befriend them and often used his innate powers to bewitch them. Then he killed them quickly and ate them. He'd refused to eat Namine and even with the rats devouring the corpse, the stench had been almost unbearable. He would not repeat that mistake._

_Something was happening. The young man tilted his head, feeling very uneasy. There was noise, a lot of noise. Fighting? Had someone invaded the cold woman's home? It was a very large home and it might take them some time to reach here, if they did. He inched towards the steps, fascinated. There was nothing to be afraid of, really. His life could get a little worse, perhaps, but not by much._

_The door opened and he flinched at the light. It was more powerful, more intense than any lantern and he had to put a hand over his eyes to avoid being blinded. There was the sound of men's voices uttering confused and horrified oaths. Then a younger male voice raised in command._

"_Enough! Let me see –" The boy lowered his hand, eyes slitted as he regarded the strangers in the cellar. Men in armor, mostly, except for a young man forcing his way to the front. He was in armor as well but it was embossed with the symbols of the priests. A warrior priest, then. He and the boy stared at each other and the warrior priest seemed taken aback. "This is –"_

* * *

"Wake up!" Roxas groaned as something slapped against his chest. "Roxas! Time to get up!" Roxas managed to pry open his eyes to see a grinning Cloud above him. What was his brother so cheerful about?

"I was dreaming. And it's only…" Roxas looked at the clock and blinked. "Six in the morning? What the hell Cloud?" That was earlier than he usually got up for school. But Cloud ignored him, dragging his protesting younger brother out of bed.

"Get dressed. You're about to get a lesson!" Roxas gave his brother a glower but reluctantly put on his clothing. "A lesson in karate." Roxas felt his mouth drop open. Say _what?_ "I've been taking lessons since I started going to college. I'm a black belt now and while I might not be the best teacher in the world, I know how my sensei does it."

"Say what?" Roxas couldn't believe this. He'd put some kids in the hospital and Cloud was going to teach him karate? "Are you serious? Mom and dad will never go for this!" And Cloud would only be here a week. What could he learn in that little time? Cloud shook his head.

"I had a long talk with them Roxas. They're going to enroll you in the local karate classes." Roxas stared and Cloud's tone turned stern. "You've clearly got the Strife temper, you're just a bit slower to pop than I was. So now you need to learn to control it."

"Uh, okay." Roxas privately thought that Cloud was insane and couldn't imagine how he'd gotten their parents to agree to this. But he wasn't going to complain. He'd wanted to learn to fight for years. Although that thought did bring back the anger. That worried Roxas a bit. What if he hurt Cloud? But surely Cloud would know enough to avoid it.

Cloud started him with very basic exercises and as Roxas began to get hungry his temper started flaring. He'd been dragged out of bed for this? The blonde growled to himself as he punched at Cloud and the world narrowed until it was nothing but a sharp focus in the hear and now, trying to get past Cloud's defenses to –

Roxas yelped as he suddenly went sprawling, breaking out of that tight focus. Cloud was shaking his head as he glanced up, bewildered.

"Roxas, what were you doing? Fighting you is like fighting a deranged animal." Roxas blushed as he realized he'd actually tried to bite Cloud. Had that really happened? "Get up and try it again. And no teeth this time."

"Um, right." Roxas scrambled to his feet, very glad he hadn't managed to connect. The practice went smoother this time as the rage was replaced by a kind of curiosity. Roxas paid close attention to the exercises.

He wanted to learn this. He didn't want to be helpless but breaking people's arms wasn't the best way to handle things.

* * *

_The entity watched, fascinated, and came to a startling conclusion._

_He didn't know how to fight. It was a very strange realization for someone from his background but after only a little thought it made perfect sense. His mother would never have taught him to fight, of course. The very idea was laughable. His father probably would have if he'd been born in the Abyss. He would have made a good underling and his father had nothing to fear from him. But he hadn't been. And the priests had even less reason to give him this kind of training and discipline._

_He had still been very dangerous, of course. One of his kind didn't need to know how to fight to kill. But knowing this could make him more dangerous still and the entity learned even as Roxas learned._

_It had been a long time since he'd had the opportunity to learn anything new._

* * *

Later that night, Roxas went to join Sora and Riku for their game night. Sora's house was a very nice little bungalow right at the end of a dirt lane. Roxas paused for a moment to admire it. The house itself was nothing special but the gardens Sora's mum had planted were a riot of color. The garish flowers were being fertilized by what looked like swarms of butterflies. Roxas grinned to himself as he parked his bike and went up to the door. The gardens were a lot like Sora's mom, now that he thought about it. She loved bright colors and had a large, cheerful personality.

"Hi Roxas!" Sora greeted him happily at the door. "Come on in!" Roxas smiled and followed the brunette in, wincing slightly as a few muscles protested. Cloud was pushing him hard. Roxas thought maybe he'd worried his brother with his out of control attacks. But what could you do? Riku was already playing DDR and looked up with a smile as they came in. But he was the only one there.

"Where's everyone else?" Roxas asked and Riku glanced over with a faint frown. Roxas looked at Sora and caught the bright, brittle smile on his face. Something was wrong, but what?

"They couldn't come. But don't worry! We can have a lot of fun, just the three of us." Sora's bright tone didn't fool Roxas for a moment. Couldn't come? More like wouldn't. The thought left a sour taste in his mouth and he felt the anger simmering like molten lava. But there was no target, no possible release so he ignored it and smiled back at Sora.

"Well, their loss. My mom gave me some money so we can order pizza." His mother and father really were pleased that he was plugging back into the social scene at school. Roxas only hoped being friend with him wasn't going to cost Sora and Riku too much. Sora's smile turned more genuine.

"That would be great! My mom has gone to visit her sister and dad burns oatmeal." Sora confided and Roxas laughed. "Seriously, you should see what he can do with jello."

"I'd rather not. Can I play?" He asked Riku who nodded. Soon they were playing DDR and having a blast. Roxas found it was even more fun than usual, but then, he'd been barred from the computer for a week. That would do it. Roxas smiled as they finished with that and started playing a different game, Animal Crossing. It had been ages since Roxas had played it and he had to think hard to remember how it worked. Soon he was doing just fine and then the pizza arrived.

"Hmm, he didn't bring napkins. Let me go get some." Sora left to go to the kitchen and Roxas looked at the pizza longingly. He was so hungry! Riku seemed to feel the same way because he picked up a piece.

"You know, you can eat a slice of pizza whole." He commented and Roxas looked at him dubiously. "I've done it before. You roll it up, like this." Roxas watched as the silver hair rolled up his pizza slice.

"I think it would be better folded. Let me try." Roxas grabbed one and folded it up into a messy square. Then he shoved it into his mouth as Riku tried to eat his. Sora walked in and looked at them both, puzzled, as they attempted to chew the huge mouthfuls of pizza.

"…You couldn't wait five seconds for the napkins? Gross!" Sora said as Roxas struggled to swallow. Finally he managed to get it down and coughed.

"We were just proving, uh, the best way to eat a pizza slice whole." Riku managed to say as Sora scrunched up his nose and shook his head.

"The best way to do that is not to do it at all. Here, have some diet coke." Roxas took a glass and washed down the pizza with a large swig. He finished off another piece, properly this time and was feeling much better. It had been a very long time since lunch and Cloud had been working him hard. "Did I tell you I'm going to be taking karate?"

"Really? You mean you haven't?" Riku said with dry, understated humor. Roxas blinked then laughed.

"No, that was native talent! Cloud says I need to learn to control my temper and he talked mom and dad into letting me take classes." Roxas was really looking forward to it. Sora looked impressed as Riku nodded, eating another slice of the pizza.

"My mom did the same thing for me, although she made it fencing classes. Maybe you should ask if you can get those too." Roxas was intrigued by the idea. Fencing? "Sora does it too." Roxas gave his other friend a startled look and Sora shrugged.

"I never even knew the island had a fencing instructor. Who is it and how much does it cost?" Roxas made mental notes of the information. Maybe he could do that too, although that would be a lot of classes. On the other hand, it wasn't like he played a sport. The evening went by too fast and Roxas found the old friendships reviving as thought they'd never been in trouble in the first place. Sora was his usual, bouncy self and Riku was the quiet voice of reason. But… "I'm sorry guys, I really have to go. Mom wants me home." He said apologetically as Sora frowned. "I'm still grounded."

"That's right, I'd forgotten about that! I'm surprised they let you come." Sora said and Riku smiled understandingly. He knew why. "Well, it's been great having you again. Come next week? Riku's having it at his house." Roxas hesitated. He'd love to come but…

"I, um, don't want to come between you and your other friends." He really didn't. It wasn't fair to Riku and Sora. But Sora shook his head determinedly.

"No, dad's right, they're wrong. If they won't hang with us that's okay! Right Riku?" Sora turned to look at his best friend and Riku smiled, draping an arm over the brunette's shoulders. Roxas blinked, suddenly wondering at the gay-ish vibe in the air. Was he imagining it or was there some attraction going on here?

"Right. We don't need them if they're going to be like that." Riku agreed and Roxas decided not to mention it. He didn't want to lose his two friends right after getting them back. "See you later Roxas."

"Later!" Roxas waved goodbye and went outside to grab his bike. To his dismay it was already dark out. Well, that should be no problem. The roads were almost deserted on the Destiny Islands this time of night. And he was dressed in very light colors and his bike had some reflective patches. Anyone would be able to see him.

What Roxas didn't consider was that seeing sometimes wasn't enough. He frowned as he biked along the dirt road. There was a car coming and it was traveling much too fast for this time of night. There were no lamps on this road, what was he playing at? Roxas suddenly realized with trepidation that the car was weaving. Was that person drunk? It was possible, there was a bar in town and a lot of people lived down this road. Roxas tried to decide what to do but the decision was suddenly taken out of his hands as the car weaved towards him.

"…!" Roxas panicked and felt that dark rage suddenly rising. How dare this asshole be out drinking and driving where kids were biking home? Roxas wasn't the only one who would be out, the sun set early this time of year. All that flashed through his mind in an eyeblink but rage had no power. Normally.

The situation wasn't normal. It was just like the fight. Looking back on it later, Roxas would remember bits and pieces of what occurred. He remembered jumping off his bike and his fingers sinking into the hood of the car, hearing bones breaking and the pain that was so close and yet so distant. Then there was a very long, fuzzy moment that ended with him lying on the ground in tremendous pain and the car folded around a tree. Lifting his head weakly Roxas saw that his bike was mangled beyond repair, the car had hit it on the way to the tree. And from the way things hurt he couldn't ride it anyway. Whimpering in pain he managed to get out his cell phone and hit 911, vaguely aware that his fingers weren't bending properly. How had he managed to break his fingers like that? He wasn't sure what he said to the operator but whatever it was, it made an impression. Roxas laid back and let himself rest.

He'd done all he could do. Now he had to hope the ambulance got here quickly.


	6. The Demon in the Mirror

"…" _The young man flicked through the pages of a holy book, idly reading passages. He believed none of it but it was something to do. Frustrated, he finally dropped the book onto the bed and jumped to his feet, pacing the confines of his new prison. He stopped for a moment, leaning against the window and looking out at the garden. There were silver bars in the way but he could see the outdoors now. He knew what a flower looked like._

_In some ways it was more frustrating than living in the cellar. Under the cold woman, he'd only vaguely known that things like this existed. In the monastery he was far more aware of the freedom he didn't have. He longed to run into the woods, to be truly free for the first time in his life. All the same, this was much better than living in the cellar. His lips twisted wryly as he thought about the progress he'd made._

_The priests had been horrified to find him but had decided that he was a perfect opportunity to test out some of their pet theories on the nature of evil. Before they'd been able to start any of that, though, they'd needed to civilize him a bit. It had taken two men, a syringe full of something that made his head spin, and a dozen calming spells to get him into a bathtub. It had taken five scrubbings to finally get him clean. Now, months later, he loved taking baths. The priests had taken it for a hopeful sign that he could change._

_The priests had also taught him to read. Then they'd inundated him with holy books. Some were only fit to be doorstops, in his opinion, but many of the others were interesting. Philosophy wasn't his natural bent but he was slowly learning to apply logic to the difficult topic of religion. It wasn't easy but he was naturally intelligent._

_He looked up with a frown as the door creaked open, then smiled faintly as he saw it was the old priest. The young man thought he had a very high place in the monastery, although no one had really explained how the hierarchy worked to him. All he knew for certain was that the old priest was very good with magic and filled with holy power. He was also very kind and genuinely trying to help. It filled the young man with a combination of pity and scorn. He was what he was and no amount of sermons would help with that._

"_How have you been doing child?" The young man regarded him tolerantly as the priest took a seat on a stool. "Mary-anne says you've been doing well at your studies." Mary-anne was a priestess and his primary tutor. They'd learned to keep men away from him after he'd seduced a few of his instructors. He'd almost managed to trick one into releasing him before they'd caught on. Fortunately, they hadn't realized the full extent of his plotting. He was very careful not to bite the hand that fed._

"_I've been learning a lot." He said softly, his voice smooth but with a grating edge. It wasn't a human sound but it was nothing he could help. "Although I don't believe most of it." That made the priest pause for a moment, then he smiled sadly._

"_Yes. Well, something you don't believe in is why I'm here today." The young man cocked his head to one side curiously as the priest went on. "We've had quite a debate about this but finally decided it would benefit you to see… if you agree… your mother's execution." That startled him. The cold woman was still alive? He'd assumed she had died in the fighting. "You would have to be wrapped in silver chains and holy symbols, of course. But we thought it might help you to see that justice does come for the wicked." That made his temper flare._

"_There is no punishment terrible enough for what she has done." He said flatly. The old priest winced._

"_While that is true, torture would damage our own souls. She is to be burned at the stake. Do you wish to witness it?" That silenced him for a moment. It wasn't enough, but it was something and more than he'd ever thought he would see. A wicked smile curled his lips and he nodded._

"_Yes. I would like to see that." For himself and for Namine. He couldn't find it in himself to care about the nameless victims of her rituals, but it would still be lovely to see her burn._

_She deserved much worse._

* * *

Roxas woke with a soft groan. He felt sick and very weak but strangely, he was in no pain. He reached up without thinking and blinked stupidly at his hand. It was bandaged but he could tell the bones were unbroken. How could that be? He remembered feeling the bones moving beneath his skin…

_You'll be fine. _The voice in his mind was so soothing, yet it had the grating edge of the man in his dreams. Roxas sighed and closed his eyes, letting himself relax. _You're at home._

"I am?" Roxas blinked and glanced around, realizing that was true. He must not have been badly hurt at all. Or maybe it had been longer than he thought. If that was the case he'd been hurt very badly indeed. "Mmm." He didn't feel the least bit of pain though. Roxas tentatively decided he hadn't been hurt at all and slowly sat up. "Where's mom and dad?"

_At work. _The strangely helpful voice of his imagination supplied. _There's only you… and me. _Roxas froze as he reached for a pair of jeans. Me? And the warm insinuation in that voice was not something he was imagining.

"You're not me." Roxas suddenly realized with horrified fascination. He'd always had an active imagination but he was _not _imagining this. It was something outside himself. "What are you?"

_Look in the mirror._ The voice suggested with an echoing laugh and Roxas hesitantly turned around to gaze into the mirror on the wall. It showed him the room he was used to, with a single exception… the man sitting on the bed behind him, smiling at him.

"AH!" Roxas whirled around but there was no one there. He cautiously stepped away from the bed then glanced back at the mirror. The man was still there. It was the young man from his dreams, but not young anymore… this was a grown adult. Roxas regarded him with petrified fascination. The brilliant red hair was just as he'd dreamed but this was the first time he'd really seen the man's face. He was astonishingly handsome, with beautiful features and odd marks on his cheeks. Were those tattoos or birth marks? Roxas wasn't sure but suspected they were actually birth marks. His skin, though, was… odd. It seemed to be cracked in places and there was an odd dark glow from those cracks. His eyes were completely inhuman, burning with green fire and as he smiled Roxas could see very white, even teeth. "Wh – who are you?" He asked as the man smoothly stood from the bed. Roxas stood, frozen in place as the man rested a hand on his shoulder. The fingernails were long, black and looked as sharp as they had in his dreams.

_My name is Axel. You should thank me. If you weren't my host, you would have died last night. _Roxas swallowed, glancing down at his shoulder. He felt a very faint pressure there. _You were very badly hurt but I took care of that._

"Your… host? What are you?" Roxas wasn't clear on that at all. From his dreams Axel had to be very old and that black man had been his father, but what had the black man been? Not human was all he was sure of.

_A cambion. _Roxas stared into the mirror uncomprehendingly and Axel grinned. _Most of my kind are made through rape but my disgusting slut of a mother opened her legs willingly. I'm the offspring of a mortal woman and a demon lord. _

"Oh!" Roxas had heard of that. It was exceedingly rare and most infants like that were killed at birth. Those who survived typically lived short, unhappy lives and died at the hands of an outraged or prejudiced populace. Suddenly much of what he'd seen in the dreams made sense. "The priests were trying to rehabilitate you?" That would have been an uphill job all the way. Working with an ordinary feral child would be hard enough. Axel shrugged.

_For a while. There are a few more memories for you to see. But for now… you are mine. _Roxas shuddered at the possessive tone and the way phantom hands glided over his skin. Suddenly aware of his nakedness Roxas grabbed for his pants, using them to hide his sudden arousal.

"Don't I get any say in this?" Roxas demanded of the image in the mirror. The man there laughed.

_Did I have any say in being born? But there are advantages to being mine, and I like you Roxas. I like you a lot. _Axel's voice dropped to a husky whisper. _Someday, I will touch you the way you want to be touched. The way you desire the most._ Roxas gasped as the hands traveled over him and suddenly jumped out of the line of the sight of the mirror. The hands seemed to abruptly vanish.

"Stop!" He commanded sharply and could almost feel how taken aback Axel was. "I am not doing this with you. I'm getting dressed. Then we can talk about this." He wasn't going to let himself be molested by his mirror, no matter how pleasant it might be. There was a hurt silence as Roxas quickly got dressed. "I'm getting some breakfast. We can talk over that." He said firmly.

…_Alright. _Axel said sullenly and Roxas smiled to himself. The cambion was a typical teenager, if the dreams he'd seen were correct. If anything, he was even hornier than most. As Roxas went downstairs he vaguely wondered why he wasn't afraid of the demon hybrid. He knew from those dreams that Axel had killed and eaten quite a few people. But then, he'd never known any of them by name and he did know Roxas. That should be some protection. He hoped so anyway. Soon Roxas had a bowl of corn flakes and was munching as he thought.

"Okay. How'd you end up in the mirror?" He finally asked. Axel growled softly before he responded.

_I was going to show you that, but the short of it is that I was betrayed. They trapped me in here and muffled the mirror with silk and holy symbols to hold me in place. It wasn't that bad though. I mostly slept through it. _Roxas nodded thoughtfully. That made sense. _The mirror is very old magic. It wasn't meant to do this, it's a bastardization of its powers. _

"Oh? What was it meant to do?" It probably wasn't useful to know but Roxas was curious and Axel was talkative.

_It was meant to allow a wizard to safely converse with angels and demons. A kind of limited gateway. I don't know how the bastard did this but I do know they talked about breaking the mirror to kill me. They were afraid it might free me instead so they finally locked me away. _Roxas frowned. This wasn't quite making sense.

"If they wanted to kill you, why didn't they just do it?" There was a soft, vicious chuckle from the redhead.

_Most of the cambions you see out there are pathetic compared to me. The offspring of lesser demons. I am the child of a great demon lord, one of the fonts of chaos. I was beginning to learn my potential and they were afraid if they attacked me directly I would fully realize it. So they tricked and trapped me._ Axel sounded perversely proud of his strength. _That power is why I can do so much, even trapped in this mirror._

"Mmm, okay. Are you the reason all the men around here smell baked ham?" There was a brief pause and Roxas could sense that Axel was thinking about it.

_That's supposed to be burning flesh. That's what my father smelled like… I'm doing something wrong. _The cambion muttered to himself and Roxas almost choked on his cereal.

"PLEASE don't do it right." He said firmly and Axel laughed. "Really, you smell sort of appetizing right now." He immediately regretted saying that. He _knew _what Axel was going to –

_Oh, I'd definitely like to feed you something. _Roxas shifted with a blush as his pants felt too tight. Axel could sound unbearably sexy when he wanted to. He'd met other men he desired, of course… that was how he'd realized he was gay… but none as intensely as he wanted the cambion. And he knew Axel returned the feeling. _You bet I do._

"Stop that!" Roxas said firmly and swallowed as Axel chuckled. "So now what? You're just going to follow me around all the time?" He wasn't sure he liked this. The blonde could almost sense Axel's shrug.

_What else can I do? I have no body but I can feel things through you. And you will benefit. You have part of my strength and fury. _Roxas' eyes widened as he suddenly realized where his anger must have come from, at least in part. Axel had no doubt worked with what was already there. But still!

"I could have you exorcised." Roxas snapped and there was a cold, leaden silence. Then there was a slow, quiet chuckle and Roxas shivered at the oozing evil there.

_You could try. But I'm not a ghost and I'm not a true demon. I think you would find that's much easier said than done… and if you tried, I would have no reason to keep any of you alive. _Roxas swallowed at the promise of mayhem in the half-demon's voice. From the memories he had seen he thought Axel was capable of compassion and mercy… but he was also capable of immense violence. Roxas suddenly wondered. Could he muffle up the mirror in the silk again? He wasn't sure what the pastor had done with it. He would have to check. Axel said nothing and Roxas glanced around, uncertain.

"Axel?" The cambion didn't respond and Roxas hesitated before applying himself to his breakfast. He'd check with the priest later and see what could be done. There had to be something they could do about this… he wasn't sure he wanted to live the rest of his life with a squatter in his head! If Roxas had been looking in the mirror, he would have seen Axel sitting on the bed and smirking. He knew quite well that the blonde's quest was a futile one.

But he would let Roxas find out for himself.

hr

"I think I put it here." The pastor said absently and Roxas sighed to himself as Cloud watched curiously. His brother had driven him over to the church. "Why did you want it?"

"I'm trying to find out more about the mirror." Roxas lied easily. He wasn't going to tell anyone the truth unless he was sure he could get rid of Axel. Right now he wasn't bothering the rest of his family at all beyond the baked ham smell and that was how Roxas liked it. The pastor nodded and opened a box.

"Oh!" That didn't sound good. Roxas looked into the box and froze in dismay. He knew it was the silk from the remains of the golden embroidery but that was all that was intact. The rest of the silk had broken apart and dissolved into a grayish mess of threads. Little silver crosses were lying in the bottom of the box, pitted and worn. "However did that happen? It wasn't like that when I put it in the box." The pastor was quite vexed. Roxas swallowed and forced a smile.

"Well, it's not that important. I was wondering though, do you have any idea where the mirror came from?" Roxas asked casually as he listened to Axel's mocking laughter. He tried to force a picture of himself slapping the half-demon at Axel and there was a surprised squeak from the other. That made Roxas smile and Axel laughed again, but this time it sounded more amused than malicious. The pastor shook his head.

"Who knows? It could have come from across the sea. My grandma –" Cloud fidgeted as the pastor began a long, convoluted story about the family history. Roxas almost wished he hadn't asked. This wasn't telling him much that he didn't know. Finally the pastor paused for breath and Roxas seized the moment gratefully.

"Well, we better get going. My parents want to take me to the doctor for a checkup." Cloud grinned at that and Roxas knew why. His parents were very glad he was alive but worried there might be some lasting effects. The man in the car had died in the crash and apparently, it had been pretty gruesome. He'd been decapitated by a flying shard of metal. Roxas had a pretty good idea that Axel had something to do with that but couldn't find it in him to care. That idiot had actually been a relative of Sora's but no one would miss him except his wife, and Roxas suspected that even she wouldn't miss him much.

"I think mom and dad are wasting their time." Cloud said as they got in the car. "But at least it'll be quicker than listening to the neverending family history, complete with slides." Roxas winced at that.

"Please don't mention the slides!" Roxas said with a shudder as Cloud laughed. The pastor had a nasty habit of breaking those out on special occasions and boring everyone to death. "I never want to see those again." Once was one too many.

"Well, hopefully you won't." Cloud concentrated on the road for a moment as they reached a two way stop. "Well, this has been a really interesting trip home. I never imagined there would be so much going on."

"You have no idea." Roxas mumbled to himself. If Cloud knew the last part he would probably freak out. Roxas decided even more firmly that he needed to keep Axel's existence to himself.

The last thing he wanted was to endanger his family.

* * *

_Axel idly drew his claws through the stone, creating a pretty pattern that resembled a flower. He'd discovered he had a certain talent for art although he had no real tools for it beyond his nails._

_He was getting stronger. Axel knew that from how easy it was to cut into the hard stone, how easy it was to create his little pictures. Fire was coming far more easily as well and he'd learned how to spit a corrosive acid. He'd had quite a bit of fun with that until the priests had caught onto why the silver bars were pitting. They had been replaced and he'd been told quite sternly not to do it again. It hadn't occurred to Axel that soon he might be strong enough to cut through the stone and wrench the bars out of the wall, but it had occurred to the priests. And unfortunately, there was another change. Axel looked up with a frown as the door opened and a new priest purposefully stepped through._

_He was much younger than the old priest. His hair was white as snow and he moved with an air of great authority, but there was something about him that the cambion did not like. An air of calculation that reminded him of his mother. He smiled and Axel trusted it not at all._

"_Hello. My name is Xemnas and I am your new caretaker." He said and the half-demon did like his voice. It was very smooth and soothing. Still…_

"_What happened to Father Patrick?" He said warily and Xemnas expression took on a tinge of sadness._

"_I'm afraid he has gone to god's arms. He had a heart attack yesterday." Axel stiffened, feeling a flash of unaccustomed grief. He'd liked the old man, as much as he liked anyone. "We think we may have found a way to rid you of your demonic nature."_

"_Oh?" Axel said neutrally. The old priest had talked about that but had said it was extremely difficult to do. Axel himself wasn't too sure about it. He hated being seen as a monster but wasn't sure he wanted to give up the power of his heritage. "How?" Xemnas smiled and gestured. Two novices brought in a very beautiful mirror and Axel regarded it curiously. It had very intricate scrollwork and a hand carved woman's face at the top. She seemed to be smiling._

"_This mirror is a gateway to the angelic and infernal realms. Give me your hand, and I will remove the part of you that is demon and send it back to the demonic realms." Axel hesitated, licking his lip. This seemed too easy. Xemnas offered the cambion his hand and waited patiently. Finally the desire to have a normal life overruled caution and Axel took his hand, being careful with his claws._

_Axel was expecting chants and rituals but there was nothing of the sort. Only a horrible wrenching sensation, a painful dislocation. He would have screamed if he could have but there was nothing to scream WITH. What had Xemnas done? The cambion raged as bonds settled over him, magical wards he could not break. And then he saw Xemnas, but the image was curiously flattened and reflected._

"_What have you done to me!?!" He demanded and the young priest laughed._

"_Imprisoned you in the mirror. When your nature has truly changed and you have grasped what it means to be good, you will be released. Until then…" Xemnas shrugged and Axel felt the mirror being lifted and settled in a casket. A fold of fabric draped over the face of the mirror and all his senses were suddenly muffled and dim. "Farewell." The chest clicked shut. Then time suddenly seemed to warp and Axel saw a completely different face, childlike and blonde haired._

"_What a beautiful mirror!"_


	7. Teaching Axel

Roxas hummed to himself as he read a book.

His parents had been shaken by his near brush with death and while they hadn't tacked on any extra time, he was still grounded. His dad was talking about driving him to and from the game night on Saturday, which suited Roxas just fine. He really didn't want another close encounter with a drunk driver either, although it was unlikely to happen again.

He was gradually getting used to his new roommate. It helped that he already knew Axel, really. The memories of his life had been quite moving and Roxas had gotten a feel for the redhead's personality. He was very bright and mentally independent. He also tended to like people, which was a bit of a marvel given his harsh upbringing.

He was also extremely dangerous. Roxas was careful to keep in mind the fact that Axel had raped, killed and then eaten many people. He hadn't really had much of a choice about the killing and eating and the rape had been aided by charm magic so it hadn't been violent, but still. Axel had no remorse for any of it. The only thing he regretted was Namine's death because she was the only one who had been real to him. On the other hand, Axel was not psychotic or sociopathic. Roxas had done a project on criminal behavior once and he was sure of that. It was more like Axel had never been taught the moral code most people knew… or rather, he'd been taught a moral code that went against his natural inclinations.

_Mmm. Are you thinking that my natural inclination would be to be a nice person? _Axel asked sardonically. Roxas sighed and set down his book. It was a bit annoying, how the cambion always knew what he was thinking.

"No, I think you'd be a hot tempered asshole. But I don't think you'd have eaten so many people." Roxas said frankly then winced at the hurt silence. "Sorry."

_It's okay. _Fortunately Axel didn't sound angry at all, only thoughtful. _If if's and but's were candied nuts, we would all be fat, that's what Father Patrick used to say. I really don't know if I would have raped and eaten people if I'd had a normal upbringing. _Roxas blinked at that. _One thing my mother taught me was how to leash my temper and obey._

"Wait, this is you leashing your temper?" Roxas blanched a bit at the thought but he supposed Axel might be right. The cold woman certainly hadn't let her son get out of hand. True, she'd taught him with pain but that experience had given Axel an ingrained fear of consequences. "You think you might have been less restrained if you'd had a normal childhood?" Roxas frowned at the thought and could sense the cambions' shrug.

_Maybe. The consequences your legal system has are laughable compared to what the bitch did to me when I didn't obey. Quite likely I would have blithely disregarded the rules until I finally went too far and got dismembered by a bunch of peasants with pitchforks. _Axel's tone turned wry. _As you might guess, I've had a while to think about this. All that philosophy and religion the priests tried to cram down my throat._

"You know, Axel, most people don't obey the laws just because they're afraid of getting punished." Roxas observed, crossing his hands over his stomach and watching a bird on the windowsill.

_Then why do they?_ Axel sounded honestly interested and Roxas blinked. Was he serious? Did he really not understand?

"Because… because it's the right thing to do." Roxas said and could sense how completely unimpressed Axel was with that answer. He thought for a moment. "Let's say you steal something from a store. You say to yourself they're a big store, they can afford it right? But a lot of people think that. And if a lot of people think that the store has to raise the prices to account for inventory that goes missing. That hurts everyone."

_Except the people who stole it._ Axel observed and Roxas sighed. He could see why the priests had been having problems. _Isn't that smarter as long as you don't get caught?_

"Only if you don't care at all about other people. And you do care, don't you?" Roxas asked and Axel laughed, harsh and grating. His disdain for the idea was obvious. "You cared about Namine." That silenced the cambion briefly. "And Father Patrick. And you care about me, don't you?" Roxas held his breath as he waited. Did Axel care for him or was he in just as much danger as –

_Yes, I care for you._ Axel sounded uncomfortable with his own reply but Roxas felt a great relief. _I suppose I even care for your parents and Cloud, although mostly because it would hurt you if anything happened to them. I'm… jealous of Sora and Riku, how close they are to you. _That made Roxas tense again. Axel wouldn't hurt them, would he? _No. That would hurt you as well, and I think I might like them if I only had a body to meet them with. But Roxas, I don't care about people I don't know. The only reason I would not kill a stranger is because of the possible punishment._

"Really?" Roxas asked, a bit saddened. Axel really was dangerous and scarred by his childhood. "Well, we can work with that. You just have to extend your empathy a bit farther." Roxas could also see why Father Patrick had tried so hard with Axel. The cambion had basic human emotions and reactions, but tainted by his demonic heritage and his mother's legacy of cruelty. "Maybe you need to know more people." Roxas mused to himself. The redhead had been so isolated for almost all of his life. He'd only really known his mother, Patrick and Namine. That was it. "Axel?" The half-demon hadn't responded at all. That was odd.

_How would you go about doing that? _Axel sounded very uneasy at the idea and Roxas blinked. Was the redhead afraid? He sounded nervous and a touch angry. Not good. Roxas thought that mindset had the potential to flare into rage. _There aren't that many people on the island. _Roxas thought about that and smiled.

"And you're going to meet everyone when mom and dad let me leave the house!" He promised the cambion. "I'll take you all over the island and introduce you. Well, not really but I'll talk to everyone for you. Father Patrick gave you books to read, I'm going to give you experiences. How's that?"

_I think you're nuts. But okay. _To Roxas relief the half-demon sounded far more relaxed. He wouldn't be the one doing the talking, after all. _I'd like to see more of the island anyway. _So far he'd seen quite a bit traveling along with Roxas but he wasn't a social sort of kid. He tended to keep to himself a lot of the time. This would be interesting. Roxas smiled and relaxed, going back to his book. It was a fantasy story about unicorns and Roxas had to ignore Axel snickering in the background. _Ohhh he likes the patriach's daughter! Are they going to have sex Roxas?_

"They're unicorns Axel, they don't have sex to reproduce." Roxas said absently and felt Axel's puzzlement. "They use mitosis."

_You are so full of shit your eyes are turning brown. They do so have sex! _Axel argued as Roxas grinned. They were discussing the reproductive habits of imaginary animals. _Imaginary? I'm a half-demon, how would you know?_

"Uh, a point. But everyone knows cambions are real, just rare. Unicorns are like yeti. They don't really exist." Roxas said firmly. He was sure Axel was just playing with him but it was fun. Although who knew? Maybe unicorns did exist in some remote valley somewhere, unlikely though it might be. "But if they were reproducing they wouldn't be having sex. How could something with a fetish for virginity have sex?"

_Pfth. So are you saying they'd be brought by the stork? I know about mitosis, that's for single cells. Unicorns are too large. _Axel argued. Roxas smiled, setting down his book. Talking to the redhead was more stimulating anyway.

Time passed by quickly as they chatted and that almost led to a mini-disaster. Roxas just barely managed to stop talking and grab his cell phone as his mother opened the door to his room.

"Roxas? Who are you talking to?" His mother asked as he pretended he'd just shut his cell phone. Roxas smiled brightly at her.

"Just Sora mom. We were talking about unicorns." His mother looked puzzled but nodded. She wasn't worried about his cell phone minutes, Roxas had an unlimited plan.

"Supper is almost done." She said instead and Roxas nodded. He was getting pretty hungry and he'd found out that Axel could taste things through him. The redhead loved to taste various things. Apparently his diet at the monastery had been the usual for the priests, good enough but nothing close to his mum's cooking. "It's baked beans with pork rolls." Roxas grinned as Axel snickered. The phantom smell of baked ham was still all through the house and he thought it would make the beans taste better. Axel had tried to adjust the smell once but he'd ended up smelling like cheap mouthwash. Roxas was happier with spiced meat than medicinal mint.

When he was going to bed that night Roxas felt a phantom hand at his brow, the light touch of something hard and cool. It was comforting and he snuggled more deeply into his blankets before he dropped off. The mirror showed a scene slightly different from the boy lying alone in his bed. Axel was sitting next to him, gently stroking his hair and touching his forehead with the blunt edge of dark claws.

He did care for the little blonde. More than he'd ever cared for anyone in his life.

* * *

"Roxas!" The pastor. Roxas forced a smile, turning away from the counter and the young lady he was speaking to. She was the daughter of the owner and her name was Sufi. Roxas wasn't used to being so social but he was really making an effort for Axel's sake. "You were asking about the history of the mirror?"

"Yes." Roxas said, surprised. "You've heard something?" The pastor nodded, beaming.

"Yes! It was apparently accidentally shipped here along with some holy books from a monastery on the mainland, near Visch. I spoke to a very nice fellow about it, he would like to buy the mirror back. Apparently it's quite a treasure." Roxas stiffened and felt Axel's sudden rage and fear. The pastor went on, oblivious. "He said they would pay you ten thousand dollars for it. Isn't that amazing?"

"I'm not interested in selling it." Roxas said firmly. "For any price. Please tell them that, sir." The pastor looked a little startled but nodded. "Thanks Sufi, but I better be getting home." He said to the young lady, who nodded with a smile.

_Thanks Roxas. _Axel said softly as Roxas peddled home. But he could sense the cambion's worry under his words. He sent Axel a questioning feeling and the half-demon sent back an even stronger feeling of worry. _If they know what the mirror is they won't give up so easily. I'm amazed they were careless enough to let it out of their hands._

"Well, they can't do much about it if I refuse to sell it. I own it now." Roxas said firmly and frowned at the doubt and almost disdain he sensed from Axel. "What?"

_I'm not the only one that thinks consequences are all that matter._ Was all the redhead said. Roxas swallowed as he understood the message but he thought Axel was being far too pessimistic. They wouldn't try to steal the mirror. Would they? Then he frowned. Xemnas might, but was that priest even still alive? Axel had no idea how long he'd been in the mirror but it seemed likely it had been a while. The redhead had learned about technology by watching Roxas and living in his mind. But had that just been because of Axel's isolated upbringing? Roxas remembered his mother using a very nice oil lamp. How long ago could that have been, really? _Maybe you should talk to Cloud about this._ Axel finally suggested and Roxas blinked.

"Cloud? Do you think so?" Was Axel suggesting he tell Cloud about the half-demon? Roxas bit his lip, thinking about it. If it had been his parents he would have rejected the idea immediately. They were a nice, church going family and his parents had already been through way too many shocks. They couldn't possibly react well to the revelation of a cambion living in the mirror. Cloud would react at least a little better but Roxas wasn't sure about this at all. "Why?" Why did they have to tell anyone?

_Cloud seemed like the kind of guy who can take care of himself. _Axel observed and Roxas silently agreed. _And he's living in a bigger city right? It's much easier to lose yourself in a city._

"I'm not leaving the islands!" Roxas exclaimed, the bike wobbling a bit for a moment. Axel's silence was leaden and Roxas licked his lips. "Unless I have to." Roxas wondered how the cambion had become so important to him. Well, he knew part of the reason. The redhead could be deadly to him and his family. But it wasn't just that.

_I'm glad to hear that. _Axel's voice was purring and Roxas blushed as phantom hands tugged on his clothes. They were much lighter than they had been when he was within sight of the mirror but definitely there.

"Stop that! I'm biking." Roxas snapped and Axel laughed. "I don't want to – AH!" Roxas had to sharply hit the brakes as Sora dashed out of his house, waving. "SORA! You're a menace! Haven't I had enough accidents?" He certainly didn't want another one. The brunette grabbed his arm and Roxas muttered some words he'd heard Axel use in his dreams.

_Do you have any idea what you just said? _Axel said, highly entertained as Sora grinned and pulled the blonde towards the house. _That's demoniac and you just called him a sump hole filled with sour witches milk._

"Thanks for sharing that." Roxas muttered sotto voice. And what was Sora going on about? "Riku did WHAT now?"

"He entered an art contest and won! Come see the prize! You'll love it, I promise." Roxas blinked, wondering what that could mean. Riku was looking highly embarrassed as he stared at the statuette he'd been mailed. "See!" Sora gestured at it and Roxas stared.

"What kind of contest was this?" He asked, morbidly curious. The statuette was the kind that would gladden any fantasy fan's heart. A handsome barbarian wearing almost nothing, riding a very large cat and flourishing a sword. Roxas snickered as he realized why Sora had said HE would love it. The figure was a bit muscular for his tastes although the glossy look of it was nice. Roxas smiled as he imagined Axel wearing that outfit, muscles coated in a thin layer of oil… "Mf!" Roxas almost choked as Axel sent back an image of him in white harem pants, lying on his bed in a seductive pose. Fortunately neither of his friends noticed his momentary distraction.

"Isn't it neat Roxas? Isn't it?" Sora's enthusiasm was infectious and Roxas had to smile. "Riku wants to know if you want it. He says it's not his style." Sora sounded unutterably sad at that. Riku colored slightly as Roxas looked at him.

"And you thought it would be mine?" Roxas said sardonically as the silver haired young man coughed, avoiding his eyes. "Fair enough I suppose. Is it free?" Riku nodded, still embarrassed.

"There was a fifty dollar prize. I really don't need this and my family is making retarded jokes. Really, do you want it?" Riku asked and Roxas looked at the figure thoughtfully. He shuddered to think of what Axel would do with it but it was still very nice. A thought suddenly occurred to him and he grinned.

"Cloud's birthday is coming up, I bet he'd love it. Sure!" Riku smiled, relieved, and Sora carefully packed the statuette in bubble rap. Roxas thought it was a wasted effort. The thing had to be pretty solid to survive the trip to the Destiny Islands in the first place. He'd need to put it in the basket on the front of his bike. "I need to be going home though. I'm still grounded, sort of." His parents had lightened up a bit on that but they still wanted him home well before dusk. Sora nodded somberly.

"I'm really sorry about my uncle almost hitting you." The brunette offered. Roxas smiled faintly, taking the statue.

"It's nothing. I'm not the one that got killed. If I had, I'd be haunting him." The blonde said as Axel sniggered. "What, you don't believe in ghosts?"

"Me? I sure do! Remember the haunted house on Almond Street?" Sora exclaimed and Roxas winced. He hadn't been talking to his friend. Riku snorted.

"That wasn't a haunted house, Sora, that was a fault in the foundations. You know they fixed it and it was fine and now the Marcusons are living there." Riku said as Roxas began to peddle. The blonde tuned out his friends' friendly wrangling but smiled as he went home. It was a little harder with the statuette making an unbalanced load in the front but he managed. Before long he was home and unloading the statue. "So what did you think?"

_I think you should call Cloud._ Roxas scowled at the voice in his head. That wasn't what he'd been talking about at all. He had been referring to the other inhabitants of the island. _We can talk about that after you call Cloud._

"You're really worried." Roxas frowned as he put the statue in his closet. "Alright, but not until after supper. I don't want mom and dad walking in. So what did you think of the other people on the island?" There was a sigh from Axel.

_They're alright. _Axel knew Roxas was trying to demonstrate that everyone was pretty much the same, with hopes and dreams and fears. But he just didn't care. How was he supposed to care about the people he didn't know? _Maybe I could care about them. _Axel finally conceded. Maybe he could care about the people on the island. He wasn't going any farther than that though. Roxas managed to smile at the redhead's reluctant tone.

"It's progress." Roxas started working on his homework, only taking a break for supper. It was very good tuna steaks with salad and mashed parsnips. Roxas couldn't stand the parsnips but Axel loved them. He let the redhead take over his body for a moment so he wouldn't have to taste them. One brief blackout later, his mother was looking at him in astonishment.

"You ate your parsnips?" Usually she had to fight him to get him to swallow them. "Very good dear! Would you like seconds?"

_Yes! _

"No." Roxas said firmly and sent Axel an image of the redhead getting spanked. There was a choking sound and then the cambion laughed hysterically. "But do we have any dessert?"

"Just some mango bread." Roxas smiled and went to get a piece. He loved the sweet, nutty bread. Axel appreciated it too and he could hear the half-demon purring in pleasure as he ate. As soon as he could Roxas left the table and went to his room, pulling out his cell phone. He quickly tapped in a number.

_Yes? _Cloud's voice. Roxas smiled. He could hear Tifa in the background, greeting someone at the bar. He must have called when Cloud was at work. Still.

"Hi Cloud, it's me, Roxas. Do you have a moment? There's something important I need to ask you about." If Cloud couldn't talk right now he could always call later. There was a brief pause and Roxas could hear Cloud talking to Tifa before his brother came back.

_Sure, I can take a break. Hold on a sec. _There was the sound of Cloud moving around and Roxas was sure his brother had gone outside. _What's up?_

"Um, you remember that mirror I got from the church?" Roxas swallowed before continuing. "There's a half-demon trapped in it."

…_What? _Cloud's disbelief was obvious and Roxas winced.

"Just listen." Roxas laid out the whole thing for his brother, all the dreams he'd had and meeting Axel for the first time. "…The problem is, the pastor talked to someone. They offered me ten thousand dollars for the mirror." Roxas heard Cloud's indrawn breath at that. Ten thousand wasn't a completely ridiculous amount but it was two years of tuition at his university. "Axel said I should tell you. He thinks there might be trouble with them."

_If they know what the mirror is, quite possibly. Did you want me to figure out who this Xemnas guy was? And what monastery was this? _Roxas hesitated before remembering.

"On the mainland near Visch. You think you could?" That might be very helpful. Cloud's laugh was clear as a bell.

_Oh sure. I have some friends who know how to find things out. Not that I really believe this stuff about a cambion but the only alternative is that you're totally nuts. And I don't believe that. I'll look into it for you, you just hold tight. _Roxas smiled, happy at the confidence in Cloud's voice. As long as it wasn't overconfidence. That thought made him frown then shrug. He just had to trust that Cloud knew best.

"Thanks Cloud, I really appreciate it." They said their goodbyes and Roxas hung up, going back to his homework with a smile.

He had a lot of work to do and it just couldn't wait.


	8. Gravity is Not Your Friend

The next week went by as normal. Roxas found Axel to be a very interesting companion. He'd never been very social before but the redhead could always make him laugh, often at the worst possible times. And sometimes Roxas spent a lot of time explaining things to him. Like tonight.

_Are those things weapons? They look really strange._ Roxas paused the movie he was watching. He'd found it was easiest to just handle Axel's questions during rather than telling him to be quiet. That just wasn't his nature.

"Yes, those are guns. Didn't the priests use them when they invaded your mother's home?" Roxas brightened at the thought. If they hadn't then maybe Axel had been imprisoned in the mirror for a long, long time. If so they wouldn't have to worry about Xemnas.

_Ummmmm… no. They had crossbows. But what do those things fire? They might not work well on demons. _Axel said cautiously and Roxas sighed. So much for that idea. _Bet you could google it._

"After the movie. Now hush, we're getting to the good part." Roxas turned it back on and soon Axel was ooh'ing and aah'ing at very convincing CGI explosions. Roxas grinned to himself, enjoying it more because of the delight he could sense from Axel. The redhead had never experienced entertainment like this in his life. Although it was odd when he seemed to take a liking for the Russian spy. "Why is he your favorite?"

_He's hot and blonde. I'd totally tap that. Twice. _Roxas choked and sent Axel another image of him being spanked. The cambion laughed and sent him an image of that particular actor in the same costume as Riku's statue. _C'mon, you know it's hot! _Roxas felt himself blushing.

"Oh stop it! You're the one I want." He half-growled and felt Axel's brief surprise. It quickly turned into warmth and they shared a loving moment before going back to the movie. The Russian spy was trying to seduce the main character's girlfriend. "See? He's straight. No manwich for you." Axel sputtered and Roxas basked in the glow of accomplishment. It took a lot to embarrass a half-demon. Then his cell phone went off and Roxas pulled it out, pausing the movie. "Oh, it's Cloud! Perfect." Both his parents were gone to a bridge party. There was no danger of them overhearing something they shouldn't. "Hello?"

_Roxas? _Roxas smile faded as he caught the tension in Cloud's voice. _I've found out a bit for you but before we go into that I need to ask. Are you sure about this?_

"What? Sure about what?" Roxas sensed a sudden stillness from Axel and tried to send him soothing feelings. They were both sure this was something the cambion wouldn't like.

_Roxas, I've been looking up information on half-demons. They're very dangerous. Are you sure about keeping that mirror?_ Cloud sounded seriously worried and Roxas winced. He quickly decided against explaining to Cloud that Axel could hear everything he was saying. When he'd explained everything, he'd given Cloud the impression that Axel talked directly to him through the mirror and his dreams. He hadn't made it clear that the redhead was a permanent squatter in his mind and it suddenly occurred to him that if he told Cloud, his brother might not trust anything he was saying.

"I am absolutely sure." Roxas said firmly. Aside from the fact that Axel would probably extract a horrible revenge if he tried to betray the redhead, he was pretty sure – "I think I love him." The cold stillness he'd been feeling from Axel suddenly turned into warmth. He couldn't lie to the redhead, not like this, and Axel knew he was completely sincere.

_Roxas…_ Cloud was silent for a moment. _Have you read up on cambions? The wiki articles? _Roxas winced. He had actually read all of them, wondering what kind of limits Axel might have. From what the articles said it shouldn't have been possible to imprison the redhead this way at all but none of the articles had mentioned a mirror like the one Xemnas had used.

They had mentioned quite a bit about the nature of half-demons. For the demons, satisfying their lusts was secondary to laying seeds of chaos. Cambions were inevitably chaotic in nature. The offspring born to succubi were usually raised in the Abyss and often became the closest minions of their demonic lords. The children created in the mortal world were usually the products of rape. Often the mortal women abandoned them or killed them at birth, but some survived. Mostly they caused great death and suffering, but not always. There was at least one documented case of a cambion living as a feral child among wolves and rising to pack alpha. But that story had not ended well… the pack had been raiding ranches for food and the boy had been shot by a farmer as he attempted to defend his pack. There were very few cases where half-demons had managed to become productive members of society. The only one Roxas could think of off the top of his head was a girl who had voluntarily been confined to a sanitarium. She made beautiful art and was kept a close watch on to prevent her from trying to assuage her desire for human flesh.

_I desire human flesh. Well, one particular type of flesh… _Axel whispered insinuatingly and Roxas had to struggle not to snort.

"Yes Cloud, I've read them. And I really think Axel could make it in the islands if he was out of his mirror." Roxas said firmly but he could feel Cloud's doubt. "His mother was a bitch but she taught him how to control his temper and he liked Father Patrick a lot. He'll be good if I ask him to." Roxas was sure of that. Axel understood the concept of rules and punishment perfectly well. With no reason to be good that might just make him sneaky but Roxas was sure the cambion would try for him.

_I'm not so sure the people there could accept him, Roxas. But I guess it doesn't matter anyway since no one knows how to get him out of that mirror. _Cloud sighed. _I guess I'm just going to have to trust that you know what you're doing. Okay. Your cambion was imprisoned thirty-seven years ago. _Roxas blinked at that very specific number. _His mother was the Witch of the Moor. Have you heard that story?_

"Oh yes!" Roxas inwardly cursed himself. Why hadn't he connected Axel to that notorious story? "Are you sure? How do you know?" He couldn't remember hearing about a child in that story. Although maybe he'd only gotten a garbled version.

_I'm not one hundred percent sure but the description matches. Are you near your computer? Google it and see. _Roxas scrambled to check. His parents had lifted his grounding from the computer early, thankfully. Roxas quickly found the relevant wiki article and frowned at the artist rendition of the event. He couldn't be sure but the sketch of a woman being burned alive rather did look like Axel's mother. That had been before Polaroid cameras so it wasn't surprising there were no actual photos of the event.

"I think that might be it. So Xemnas?" Roxas prodded his brother as he looked over the story. It was all about how the Witch of the Moor had corrupted numerous officials and priests and summoned numerous demons. She'd been a serious danger for a while until her plots came to light. That had come about mostly through the work of some seers. "No wonder she hated seers. That's got to be her."

_Seers? _Cloud sounded confused but skipped past that. _Xemnas, yes. I've found out quite a bit about him. He's a bishop now. _Roxas winced at that. _He's been moved to Visch and handles the entire territory. I'm not sure he'd be involved in something this small._

_Small?_ Axel muttered and Roxas could catch his worry again. _Xemnas might not think I'm a small thing. _Roxas bit his lip, silently hoping Cloud was right. Just in that brief scene Xemnas had struck him as ruthless and treacherous. With a cambion, anyway. It was possible the Bishop would be different with other humans. _Hmph! I doubt it._

"He'd have to be nearly sixty. He won't be coming here himself." Roxas reasoned out loud. "But his minions might. We'll just have to wait and see. Maybe I could hide the mirror and say it got broken."

_That might not be a bad idea. _Cloud replied although Roxas could feel how dubious Axel was. _Well, that's all I've found out. Call me if you have any problems, you hear?_

"Right Cloud. Thanks." Roxas smiled as he hung up the phone. It was good to know his brother was there for him. "So what do you think?"

_I think hiding me wouldn't do much good. This mirror is powerful magic, they'd definitely send someone who can sense it. _Axel growled and Roxas frowned. The half-demon was right. _As for Cloud… hmph._

"He's just worried about me." Roxas said soothingly, pushing away from his desk and walking over to the mirror. He gazed into it and suddenly Axel appeared in the reflection, standing behind him and touching his shoulders. Roxas smiled at the phantom pressure and Axel smiled back, revealing his even white teeth. That always shocked Roxas a little. Axel looked like he belonged in a commercial for Colgate when he smiled.

_That is so cheesy. _Axel's smile curved into a wicked grin as he gently cupped Roxas face in one taloned hand. Roxas could faintly feel the brush of those hard, sharp nails whispering against his skin. _Does the rest of me belong on a commercial? Hmm?_

"Maybe a 'repent ye sinners' one." Roxas murmured and Axel laughed. Then he abruptly gasped as a nail lightly scraped over his cheek. "Axel!" He could feel a trail of hot blood and it _stung. _Until Axel leaned in and licked the wound. That felt… nice. But it was worrisome. "Um… Axel, you don't…" Roxas didn't have to complete the thought. Axel knew what he was thinking.

_Really want to eat human flesh? Nah. You don't taste any better than rats to me. I just like a little blood sometimes. _The cambion hummed contentedly as the spectral echo of him explored the wound. Roxas was pretty sure he wasn't really getting much out of it, but he seemed to enjoy it. _Especially when I'm having sex. _Axel's voice turned into a low, grating whisper that made Roxas shift. His pants felt much too tight. _Do they? Let me help you with that._

"Axel…!" Roxas couldn't help but groan as the cambion opened his pants and slid down his underwear. He blushed, watching him and Axel in the mirror as the redhead smiled at him before gently palming his erection. Roxas gasped and gripped the frame of the mirror. The phantom touch was so light yet so enthralling. "Axel." He murmured, closing his eyes for a moment. The touch was a bit awkward, since Axel had to be very careful not to cut him with his sharp nails. But it felt so good as the cambion began to pump him up and down, pausing to give him gentle squeezes. "Ah!" Roxas tossed back his head as Axel licked at his cheek again, savoring the echo of sweet blood.

_You're so sweet Roxas. So very, very sweet. _Axel whispered in his ear and Roxas felt himself coming right to the edge. He went over it with a cry of pure pleasure and had to brace himself on the mirror to keep from falling. _So sweet._ Then the cambion vanished, leaving him exhausted and with a mess on the floor to clean up.

Somehow, though, Roxas didn't mind.

* * *

The next day, Roxas was sitting on his bed and reading a book. It was a mystery novel where the main character pretty much knew who had killed his brother. Finding proof of it, though, was another kettle of fish.

_I don't understand this story at all. Why didn't he just kill the scumbag who killed his brother? _Roxas rolled his eyes, silently asking the angels for patience. _Seriously._

"Axel… because if he kills that guy with no proof, he'll be punished. And even if he does it right and no one can PROVE it, they'll still know so then the scumbag's brothers will be after him. Then he'll have to kill them all." Roxas said patiently.

_That sounds like fun. I'd do it. _Roxas groaned and rubbed his head before scowling as he realized Axel was playing with him. _Hey, I would!_

"And this is why you're trapped in a mirror." Roxas said waspishly before going back to his story. There was a hurt silence. "…Sorry. I just really want to read this." It was troublesome when Axel kept interrupting him. The redhead sometimes didn't know when to shut up.

_Sorry. You're my only entertainment in here. _Axel said, his voice quiet and Roxas winced. That made him feel like crap. _It's a bit hard, isn't it? We don't have time for ourselves._ Axel understood exactly how Roxas felt. There had been a few times he'd told the priests to just go away. Not because he disliked them but because he simply wanted to be alone.

"It's okay Axel. I love you anyway." Roxas smiled as that surprised a laugh out of the cambion. Axel's voice was beautiful when he laughed. If he was really happy, the grating edge seemed to drop away. All that was left was a teenage boy. "Just be quiet while I read though, okay? You can ask me questions later."

_Okay. _They read together in companionable silence. Silence that was abruptly shattered as his mother bustled into the room.

"Roxas! The pastor is here and he wants to speak to you." Roxas blinked and abruptly tensed but couldn't think of a way to refuse. His mother loved the pastor. She seemed a little puzzled but happy as she led Roxas out and he could immediately see why. It wasn't just the pastor, it was several other priests as well. Roxas couldn't be sure, they were all wearing street clothes, but he was willing to bet at least one of them was a wizard. Probably the boy with the purplish hair carrying a large book.

_Fucking hell. _Axel summed up the situation easily and Roxas could feel the cambion preparing to strike. He winced and sent Axel a soothing feeling, mentally reminding him that his mother and father could be hurt if the redhead tried to let loose in the house. Axel snarled softly but the blonde could feel him obeying.

"How can I help you?" Roxas said with an innocent, open smile as the pastor began to speak.

"Well, Roxas, I have wonderful news! My friends from the mainland want to purchase your mirror." The pastor said it like he should be pleased, which made Roxas wonder. Had the others told him what was in the mirror. "They've upped their offer to fifty thousand! Isn't that amazing?" Roxas stared as he heard his mother and father exclaim. That was more than enough to send him sailing through university and cover his board as well. Roxas didn't think about it even for a moment.

"The mirror isn't for sale." He said abruptly and his mother and father stared at him. "For any price. I'm sorry you've wasted your time coming here." He turned to leave but his father caught his arm.

"Roxas! Don't be ridiculous. You could buy a car!" Roxas wanted to laugh but felt too sick. If the mirror had been nothing but a mirror, he would have been all over that offer. He'd wanted a car for ages and his parents knew it.

"No dad. It's not for sale." Roxas repeated stubbornly and turned around as the purple haired priest cleared his throat. He glared as the young man smiled smoothly at him and began to speak.

"Sir, ma'am, I'm afraid I must tell you that the mirror is an unholy object. It's quite likely it has touched his mind. We really must take it to dispose of it safely." His mother looked alarmed but his father was skeptical. Roxas felt his temper flaring, that familiar black rage as the man smiled at him superciliously.

"You don't know anything. Father Patrick was right, cambions can change and no, you can't have my mirror!" Roxas shouted at the men and yanked out of his father's grip, running up the stairs. There was a confused murmur of voices behind him but no one followed immediately. No doubt they thought there was nowhere for him to go.

_There isn't – Roxas, what are you doing? _Axel's voice rose in alarm as Roxas pulled the mirror off the wall. _You can't do that!_

"Sure I can. You put my hand through solid steel and healed it afterwards. What's carrying a mirror compared to that?" Roxas said absently as he measured the mirror against his window. It wouldn't fit unless he broke it. Shrugging, he picked up the barbarian statue and neatly smashed the window, brushing away the jagged edges of glass.

_That was a momentary burst of strength. Hauling the mirror isn't just about strength, it's the dimensions – oh hell! _There was the tread of steps going up the stairs. Roxas determinedly went out the window, grabbing the drainpipe with one hand and clutching the mirror with his other arm. It was a tremendous balancing act and it would normally have been impossible. But as he touched the pipe he felt strength flowing through him and managed to grip the pipe like a monkey. He began to shinny down it and – _ROXAS! The pipe! _Roxas looked up, startled, and realized there was a much larger flaw in his plan. The pipe was peeling off the side of the house and there was nothing at all Axel could do to stop that.

"NO!" Roxas cried as one of the priests looked out his window, startled. The pipe let go with a sad crunching sound of metal and he felt himself falling, the mirror slipping out of his grasp. It twisted around in mid-flight and Roxas found himself staring into Axel's face… just before he hit the ground.

Then everything went dark.


	9. Going to Hell

The first thing Roxas was aware of was carpet. It was a thick, plush carpet soft enough to sleep on. He was tempted to do just that. He felt so tired, although he wasn't sure why.

"Roxas, wake up." Hot hands, too hot for a normal human were on his shoulders. Roxas opened his eyes and gaze up blearily as the hands turned him over.

"…Axel?" Roxas stared up, amazed, and suddenly smiled. "You're free of the mirror!" Axel was unmistakably physical. He looked even better than he had in the mirror, his hair a beautiful mane behind him and his eyes glowing that beautiful green. Roxas gripped his shoulders and tried to kiss him but the cambion pushed him away.

"Not now Roxy." Hurt, Roxas stared at the redhead and suddenly noticed the tension in his face, the way he looked ready to spring at any moment. Roxas looked around worriedly. Were the priests –

"Axel!" Roxas abruptly recoiled, clinging to the cambion and making him swear under his breath. "Wh – where are we?"

They were in a beautiful palace. Little glowing crystals were mounted on the walls, providing a dim, bluish illumination. The walls seemed to be gilded with silver and were decorated with obscene but beautifully done bas-reliefs. Roxas swallowed as he realized most of them seemed to be depicting demons, mostly succubi but also a smattering of other attractive, half-female creatures. The really alarming thing, though, was the creatures slowly gliding towards them. Deathly pale or slate grey, they were humanoid but hairless and their faces were frozen in expressions that made Roxas desperately want to hide his face against Axel. But that wouldn't do any good. They were advancing and Roxas found his gaze caught by the dead white gaze of one of the monsters. He felt a strange wrenching and –

"No!" Axel gripped his chin and yanked his head towards him. "Don't look into their eyes. And as for you!" Axel snarled out something in the same tongue the cold woman had used. Roxas could recognize the general structure and sounds but not the words. The strange creatures stopped then slowly backed away. They seemed to watch for a long moment before vanishing into the walls. "Hrmph." Axel seemed satisfied but Roxas couldn't help but notice how he trembled as he stood. The redhead seemed to be very weak, but he was recovering rapidly.

"Axel, what happened? Where are we?" Roxas pushed himself to his feet and Axel put an arm around him protectively. Roxas let himself relax against the older boy, sniffing quietly into Axel's shirt. He vaguely realized it was the exact same shirt he'd been wearing when he was imprisoned in the mirror so long ago.

"The Argent Palace. It's made up of sixty-six towers of ivory." Roxas looked at Axel to see if the cambion was joking. But he seemed to be dead serious. "It fills this entire level of the Abyss and is home to my father, Graz'zt."

"We're in Hell?!?" Roxas choked out and Axel gave him a brief, somber nod. "How?" How could that have happened? Axel sighed and rubbed his head for a moment.

"The mirror was a limited gateway meant for communication. But Roxy, you landed on it and shattered it." Axel explained. "I think – this is just a guess – I think that because it was holding me, the gateway was partially open. When you shattered it, it opened completely and because you landed on it you got sucked through with me. I used my strength to take us here instead of someplace unfamiliar." Axel shrugged slightly. "I can get us out of here once I get my strength back. If we'd gone somewhere else we might have been trapped." Roxas swallowed at that thought. He didn't know a lot about it but he knew there were all kinds of planes of reality beyond the material one, and in most you would likely die quickly if you didn't know your way around. Horrible as the Abyss was, they had one crucial advantage here and that was Axel. "I'm going to take care of you. Don't worry." Roxas stared into Axel's eyes, caught in the glowing orbs of color. It was a bit unnerving, how they had no pupils or whites but he didn't care. He could see the concern on Axel's face. "C'mon. We better go see my father." Axel finally said and Roxas winced.

"Do we have to?" Couldn't they just hide out in this massive citadel? Axel grinned, teeth flashing in the dim light.

"'Fraid so. We can't hope to hide from his minions so we might as well go before him on our own two feet, rather than getting dragged in by our hair." Axel's tone turned sour. "I'm sure he'll be thrilled to see me." They started walking through the endless corridors of the Argent Palace. They saw plenty of demons, but most were succubi who smiled seductively at them. A few seemed inclined to take it further but backed off at Axel's ferocious glare. Roxas could almost feel the demon's curiosity and malice as they walked. They seemed to be walking forever…

"Axel?" Roxas finally said as a pretty little blonde succubus winked at him. He gave her an indifferent look and she frowned, disappointed. The redhead glared at a demon that looked like an animate skeleton covered in red jelly. "You don't have the faintest idea where we're going, do you?"

"I – damn!" Axel gripped his hair and normally Roxas would have laughed. The situation now was far too tense. "Oh fuck… yeah, I don't have the least idea. You have any suggestions?" Axel groused as he turned to scare away some more of the white and grey creatures. They were bodak's, the remnants of mortals who had been killed by the touch of elemental evil.

"Ask one of the succubi?" Roxas suggested and Axel paused, startled. He didn't like the idea. It would make them look weak in front of demons, which was never a good thing. On the other hand the wandering around was already doing that. Finally biting the bullet Axel walked up to a slender, beautiful brunette succubi. She lowered her eyelashes and smiled in a parody of sweetness.

"I'm looking for my father. Could you tell me where to find him?" Axel said, deliberately emphasizing his relationship to the demon lord. The succubi's eyes flitted up to his face and Axel was sure she was reading the lines of resemblance there.

"In his throne room. I will show you." She said, her voice sweet and rich as honeyed cream. She walked away and they followed, both completely indifferent to her charms. Roxas reflected that being homosexual here was probably an advantage. Axel's father seemed to be extremely straight.

Roxas swallowed as they reached the throne room. It was a mockery of beauty, a parody of light. Beautiful marble columns were sheathed in silver and platinum and lovely, indirect lighting highlighted all kinds of treasures. Jeweled vases, ivory statues, even a diamond as large as two fists. And in the midst of the splendor, brutish demons snorted and fawned over every word of the black skinned man in the centre of the room. He was idly reading a report of some kind and fingering a gold medallion with the image of a pretty woman on it. Roxas blinked as he realized the woman herself was sitting on a smaller throne beside him, sipping tea and looking like she desperately wanted to be somewhere else. Axel ignored her and Roxas wondered if he knew who she was.

Axel's father was just like he'd been in the dreams. Tall and handsome, the resemblance between him and Axel was unmistakable. He looked up from his papers and smiled slowly. Roxas swallowed. Graz'zt had the same Colgate smile as his son and it was vaguely unnerving against his pitch black skin.

"Axel. I never thought you would come." Graz'zt handed the papers to the woman by his side, who took them with a forced smile. "And who is this?" He asked, looking at Roxas. The blonde boy found himself briefly entranced by the demon lord's beauty before Axel jabbed him with a sharp talon. Roxas winced and gripped the tiny wound as Axel spoke.

"This is Roxas. He helped me escape the mortal plane." That was both true and incomplete. Axel didn't want to go into how he'd been trapped in a mirror if his father didn't know already. There was a fair chance he might not.

"How kind of him." The demon lord remarked and Roxas was struck by how much smoother his voice was then Axel's. It sounded far more human although it really was much less. "I take it you wish to see the mortal child safely back to his home?" Axel nodded briefly and Graz'zt smiled again. "I can take care of that for you, if you chose to remain."

"I would rather see him there myself." Axel said firmly and his father only nodded thoughtfully, lacing his fingers together. Roxas vaguely noted that he had six fingers. Then he suddenly leaned forward, his eyes glowing brightly in the dim light.

"Axel, let me be blunt. You can keep this boy as a pet or see him safely home, it matters not at all. But I want you to remain in the Abyss." Graz'zt's voice was gently persuasive and Roxas vaguely wondered why. They were surrounded by his demon hordes, he could have easily forced Axel's compliance. Couldn't he? "Your mother cast many spells on you in the womb to enhance your demonic nature. She did it to more effectively bind me, but there are side effects. Mainly, you have powers that are usually limited to demons." Graz'zt's voice lowered to a purr. "Specifically, you can create portals to the lower realm. But you knew that, didn't you? You just didn't know how unusual it is." Roxas looked up at Axel and saw he was frowning.

"Yes… I used it to summon up imps to steal cakes." Axel said in a low tone. "Then I sent them back when they were done. That's unusual?" Roxas couldn't help but smile at the thought of using minor demons to steal cakes. That was just such an Axel thing to do. Then he tucked himself more firmly against the redhead's side as he spotted a toad demon eyeing him hungrily. He didn't doubt that if it weren't for Axel's protection he would have been something's supper already.

"Very. No normal cambion can do that. I think you'll find that you can summon higher beings." Graz'zt smiled briefly. "Perhaps even a balor." Axel winced faintly and Roxas wondered what a balor might be. "Of course, that would be foolish without my blessing. But with it… you could be my gateway into the mortal world. You could be my General." Roxas felt Axel's sudden stillness and had a sinking feeling. Axel didn't like people at all, was indifferent to them unless he knew them. He glanced up into Axel's face but only saw thoughtfulness there.

"It's an intriguing offer. Can I have a while to think about it?" Axel said carefully. Roxas could sense his tension. "A few decades?" There was a silence all through the court and then Graz'zt laughed.

"You want to try to make a life with this boy? As a mortal?" The notion seemed to amuse him greatly. "Very well. You can play human for a while, child. But inevitably, you will see that there is no place for you there. And then you will return to me." He gestured to the succubus who had brought them into the throne room. "Maritz. Show them to a guest room and see they are given suitable refreshments." She curtsied gracefully to her lord before crooking a finger at them. A hum of conversation picked up behind them but Roxas thought he would have known instantly it wasn't human. Some of the voices were too lyrical and others far too guttural and harsh. It gave the sound of Graz'zt's court an odd note. The hallways the succubus led them through were full of more beautiful things but Roxas was blind to it all, watching Axel worriedly.

"Axel…" He said tentatively when they were alone. The redhead's eyes flickered over and for the first time in a long while, it bothered Roxas how inhuman they were. "You wouldn't do that, would you? Lead an army of demons?" Axel sighed and went to Roxas, gently hugging him. The blonde swallowed and hugged him back, burying his face in Axel's shirt. The redhead's skin was so hot but it wasn't unpleasant. Rather the reverse. He still smelled like baked ham and Roxas found the scent reassuring.

"If it weren't for you, I probably would." Axel said in a low tone. "And I might when you're gone." He managed a thin smile. "Cambions live much longer than normal humans." Axel knew for a fact that he was going to outlive Roxas and probably by a lot. On the other hand… "Graz'zt is willing to take the chance because an unwilling General would be worse than none. And even if I never go come back or get killed, he can always try to find another witch like mother. It would just take longer and he'd like to add me to his forces." A really powerful cambion was not something any demon lord would sneer at. But Axel could see that his reply was only making Roxas more worried. "I won't while you're around. Okay?" That was all he could promise. Roxas took a deep breath then suddenly pulled him down for a kiss.

"I'm going to teach you what it's like to be human and you're going to be just fine when I'm gone." The blonde said firmly, running his hands through bright red spikes. "Now come on. I've been wanting your hot ass in my bed for _ages_." Axel choked then laughed as the blonde pulled him towards the bedroom. Axel closed the door firmly behind them and pounced Roxas to the bed, carefully pulling away his clothes. He was tempted to just rip them off, that would be easy with his nails, but then he'd have to ask the succubi for replacements. That would just be embarrassing. And that was if they had replacements… Axel pushed away the mental image of Roxas having to go home naked firmly as he kissed the hot blonde, exploring soft, creamy skin. He carefully cupped taut buttocks and gave Roxas a squeeze and a leer. Roxas moaned softly as hard claws lightly scraped sensitive skin in a teasing tickle. "Off." The blonde muttered as he pulled as Axel's shirt. The half-demon pulled away long enough to get rid of the rough cotton and khaki pants. "Oh!" Roxas swallowed as he looked down and saw how _big_ Axel was. How was that supposed to fit?

"What's wrong?" Axel noticed Roxas hesitating as he touched the blonde. Roxas blinked then gave him a tentative smile.

"Just worried. You're so big." He hesitantly ran a finger over Axel's erection, making the redhead draw in a startled gasp. It was proportional to the rest of him, but Axel was also quite tall. "And I've never…" Roxas stopped, blushing. He had dreamed of this and desired it but as far as he knew, he was the only gay kid at his school. He was still a virgin. Axel seemed to understand and smiled, a slow, warm smile.

"I'll teach you." Was all the redhead said before he descended on Roxas again, catching a pert nipple and gently mouthing the nub of flesh. Roxas was vaguely aware of the scent of baked ham increasing but didn't care. This felt tremendous, wonderful, like everything he'd ever wanted in his life –

"Ah!" The blonde arched as Axel began slowly inserting himself. He bit his lip at the sting but it eased with unnatural swiftness. Axel knew nothing about lubrication but he knew exactly how to use his charming abilities to ensure it felt good.

And it did. Axel slowly embedded himself in the smaller boy, groaning at the warm, velvety walls that tightened around him. When he was fully sheathed he watched Roxas face until the pain faded and then began to _thrust._ Roxas gasped as he was rocked into the bed, the force of Axel's thrusts just short of painful. Then the cambion brushed something inside him that made him cry out with desire.

"Ahn! Axel, ah!" Roxas sought the redhead's lips and they kissed passionately as Axel found that spot again and again. Sharp claws bit into his shoulder but Roxas didn't even notice as the blood flowed onto the soft white linens. "Uhn, harder, ah!" Axel obliged, slamming into him even harder and faster as he lowered licked the blood from Roxas's shoulder. The sting felt good and Axel's hot tongue felt better and Roxas felt himself coming to the edge as kissed him again. "Mmph!" Roxas came in a brief, shining moment of pleasure. Axel followed him a moment later, fingers punching holes into the bed. Roxas relaxed as the redhead slowly pulled away, then winced. "…Ow." As the charm slid off he felt battered, bruised and raw in places he hadn't been aware existed. Axel laughed and rested a hand on his arm. Roxas blinked as he felt an odd, warm feeling and the pain began to ease.

"Dark mending. Sorry about that… I'm a bit rough." Axel murmured and Roxas gave him a tired smile, curling up beside the redhead. The cuts on his shoulders were already beginning to heal, he noticed.

"It's okay. As long as you heal them I don't mind." It had all felt tremendously good during the act. Roxas was about to doze off when he suddenly remembered something. "Hey, weren't they going to bring us food?" His stomach was making a few demands and from the look on Axel's face, he was hungry too.

"Good point." Axel slid out of bed and grabbed his pants. Roxas groaned, using a bit of the covers to clean himself off before grabbing his pants as well. "Let's see…" Axel pulled the lid off several covered dishes and examined the contents curiously. "I have no idea what this is."

"Hm?" Roxas was suddenly worried. What had the demons of the Abyss decided was edible for humans? It actually didn't look that bad, though, when he joined Axel. Just downright peculiar. "It smells good." He poked a very tiny, roasted rodent curiously. "…Hey! I think that's a dormouse. You know, like the ancient Romans used to eat?" He said as Axel looked blank. "And those look like roasted songbirds. And I have no idea what that is." He pointed to several gelatinous cubes. Axel picked one up and tentatively tried it.

"I dunno, but it tastes fishy. Hmm." Shrugging, Axel sat down and pulled over a dormouse. "This reminds me of rats, but a lot tastier." He said after he tried it. Roxas took a mouse too and took a tentative bite. It was excellent, perfectly cooked with a sesame pepper glaze. "So how do you eat a roasted songbird?"

"I, um, think you eat it whole." Roxas had read up on ancient traditions and somewhere along the way he'd found out about Ortalon. He somehow wasn't surprised to find demons eating them, considering the way they had to be prepared. "Did you know that to fatten them, they gouge their eyes out or lock them in a box? If they can't see the birds will eat all the time because they don't know it's daylight."

"Doesn't surprise me. Dad's gardens are full of beautiful animals… until the demons hunt and kill them. Or just maim them and watch them die." Axel commented then shrugged. "But c'est la vie. Down the hatch!" Roxas winced as Axel crunched the little songbird. It turned out to be seriously messy and Roxas giggled as Axel ended up covered in goo. "Man, I need a napkin."

"What did it taste like?" Roxas asked, morbidly curious as Axel managed to locate a towel. The redhead pondered it for a moment.

"Really tasty… crunchy and sort of nutty." Axel said thoughtfully. "I liked it." Roxas grinned and passed him the rest of the songbirds.

"Then those are yours. I like the dormice." The half-demon made a face as Roxas grabbed the platter of mice for himself but didn't protest, easily dispatching the rest of the songbirds.

"You just don't want to get dirty." Axel bantered with the blonde who smiled. "Prissy human!"

"Dirty cambion!" Roxas retorted and they kissed. Roxas could taste the hot grease on Axel's lips. "You taste like chicken." Axel choked at that and gave him a reproving look.

"You're horrible!" The glance they exchanged was long and loving. Then Axel turned to look at the wall. Fire flickered at his fingertips and there was a faint scream. Roxas looked at him, shocked, and the redhead shrugged.

"Spies. It's to be expected, but they can damn well be a bit more subtle." Axel was sure his father wouldn't care that he'd singed a minion. He was also sure the minion in question wouldn't mention it at all to Graz'zt. That was inviting punishment for failure. The great demon lord could be a bit more lenient than some others when it came to failure… he'd notably tried to rescue a captured vassal, once… but still. No one liked to look bad.

"When do you think we'll be able to leave?" Roxas asked, a bit subdued at the reminder that he was in Hell. The rooms and food were so nice it was easy to lose sight of. Axel tried some of the fish cubes before answering.

"It'll probably take me a couple days to regain my strength." His tone turned very serious. "I want to be at my best when I got back, in case those priests are still there and try to drag me off or imprison me again. We're actually safer here until we're ready." Axel knew what his father wanted from him and was sure the demon lord would be patient. For now, he was a lesser threat, even a kind of ally.

For now. That might eventually change.


	10. The Witch's House

Several days later, Axel was back up to his full strength and ready to go. More than ready, really. His father was being the soul of hospitality but Axel was not about to lose sight of the fact that he could not be trusted. Until the redhead swore allegiance to his father, Graz'zt would do everything in his power to lure the cambion to his side. Because of that, Axel refused any help beyond a few provisions. He could detect any taint in the food and it would be truly ironic to escape the Abyss only to die of hunger somewhere.

"I've never done this before." Axel confided in Roxas, who looked very nervous as Axel slid his arms around the smaller blonde. "Deliberately anyway. Hold on tight, okay?" Roxas nodded and slid his arms around Axel's neck, clinging tightly to his lover. It felt very nice but he was too worried to really appreciate it.

There was a brief sensation of falling and a feeling like cobwebs across his face. Roxas blinked several times and had to resist the urge to let go of Axel to brush that away. He couldn't see a thing, only pitch black darkness. Abruptly it ended and Roxas clung to Axel as a wave of dizziness swept over him. The cambion stumbled and almost fell, wavering on his feet.

"O – Okay." Axel was breathing heavily and Roxas blinked, steadying the redhead. "Sorry. That takes a lot out of me." Axel rubbed his face for a moment before taking a deep breath and glancing around. "Holy shit." Roxas glanced around with him, suddenly aware of how dark it was. Where were they?

To his surprise, they were standing in a house. No… more of a mansion, or maybe even a keep. They were standing in what Roxas tentatively identified as a ballroom. The floor was dark wood and still in perfect condition although there was a fine coating of dust. Pretty little candelabra decorated with dangling crosses adorned the walls. Roxas examined one of them curiously. The crosses were set with dark red stones that reminded him unpleasantly of blood.

"Why do I feel like I've been here before?" Roxas asked, puzzled. He was sure he'd never been in this place before in his life yet it was achingly familiar. Axel laughed and Roxas blinked at the very harsh tone in his voice.

"Isn't it obvious, Roxy?" The cambion smiled. It wasn't a happy smile. "You saw me get dragged through this room dozens of times." Roxas paled as he suddenly understood.

"This was your home." He whispered and Axel tilted his head to one side thoughtfully before nodding.

"Don't know that I'd call it my home. Call it the witch's home. I'm surprised it's still standing." Axel looked at the dust on the floor. "Looks like it's been abandoned for a while though. I hope it's still sound." He didn't want the roof or the floor to go collapsing on them. Roxas swallowed hard and looked at the candelabra again.

"Why the crosses?" That made no sense at all. Axel's mother had worshipped Graz'zt as well as bound him. Those two things didn't make much sense together to Roxas but he supposed it might be more understandable for another demon worshipper.

"Irony." Axel said with a shrug and Roxas winced. "She liked to mock religious symbols." That didn't really surprise Roxas at all. Something else occurred to him, though, and he looked at Axel speculatively.

"You know, this place probably belongs to you." He pointed out and the redhead looked at him in surprise. "As her son and heir." Axel hesitated, thinking about it.

"I suppose…" Then he shook his head. "No, that's pointless. They'd never let me stay here." Roxas frowned but he suspected Axel was right. The cambion had some serious problems and the foremost of them was the church. The second was the law, and they were likely to go hand in hand. "But we should see if they found her stash. C'mon, this way." Axel led him purposefully out of the room and down into the library. All of the shelves had been emptied and were collecting more dust. The redhead paused at a particularly candelabra and fiddled with the stone. "I saw her do this a thousand times. It can't be that hard – ah!" Just as Roxas remembered from the dreams, a bookshelf suddenly receded into the wall. "Perfect." Lifting a hand, Axel conjured a bit of fire and started down the passageway. Roxas swallowed heavily and then followed. He was sure it wasn't dangerous after all this time. As it turned out, he was correct. The most dangerous thing in the passage proved to be daddy long legs spiders. Axel casually incinerated them, to Roxas' relief. "I can't believe it. They didn't find it." Axel paused admiringly and Roxas peeked over his shoulder.

It was the cold woman's private sacrificial chamber. Roxas swallowed back bile as he saw the dried blood on the altar. At first it seemed unreal, like the set of a movie, but the longer he looked at it the more real it became. The walls were covered in torture implements and some of them were badly corroded from more of the blood. Oddly, there was a little desk in the corner. It had many drawers and was covered in drawings. Axel gestured with one hand and lit several of the candles on the walls. The lamps were empty of fuel after so long.

"Axel, why are we here?" Roxas asked nervously and Axel turned to gently hug him, suddenly aware of how unsettling this place must be for the blonde.

"The desk over there." Axel murmured softly as he stroked Roxas' soft blonde spikes. "It's where she kept some emergency funds. I remember because she gave some to an imp once, when she was buying something from another witch. C'mon, let's see what's there." Roxas nodded, relieved to find out there was a real purpose behind this. Axel didn't seem disturbed by the old torture chamber, but then, he'd observed the rituals here thousands of times. The dreams hadn't gone into the full details but Roxas still knew. He remembered what Axel's mother had said she would do to Namine. The redhead began searching through the desk and suddenly yelped. "Ow!" Roxas blinked and tensed as Axel plucked a little dart out of his skin.

"Axel, are you alright?" Roxas said tautly and the redhead blinked before smiling.

"I'm fine. This was probably poisoned, once upon a time, but very few poisons are still effective after thirty-seven years." Axel tossed away the dart disdainfully. "And cambions are almost immune to poisons anyway." It took a truly impressive poison to slow down a demon for even a moment and cambions took after them that way. Axel kept searching and finally growled. "This thing is locked. Time to do this the hard way." Picking up the chair he yanked off a leg and before Roxas could stop him he started smashing the desk.

"Axel! What are you doing?" The wanton destruction appalled Roxas. "That's a good piece of furniture!" Axel paused long enough to grin.

"So? Can't get it out of here you know. It won't fit." Roxas looked at the passageway and realized that was true. How had the witch got it here in the first place? "And there's money in this thing, I know it. All the magical traps will have dissipated so this is perfectly safe." With that he brought down the leg again and Roxas winced as something tinkled. Then he stared as several something's went rolling across the floor. "Hah! See, I told you."

"What – are those pearls?" Roxas bent down to pick up one of the gems and was impressed by the lustre. Even in the flickering light of the candles the pearls had a beautiful, reflective finish. They were also very large. "Are these real?" Roxas was impressed. Pearl cultivation had always been part of the Destiny Island's but he'd seldom seen pearls of this quality. They were lucky to get them half the size and half as lustrous. Axel shrugged.

"I can't see why she'd have fake pearls in her desk." Roxas started gathering up the gemstones as Axel started working on the desk with his claws. "Ah, here it is!" Roxas looked up as Axel extracted a bundle of bills held together with a leather thong and also a velvet bag. "This looks to be all sorts of jewelry." Axel frowned as he pulled out a small bracelet and a large wedding band. "…Some of this is shit." He pulled out a thong necklace with a little seashell dangling off the end. "Oh. I get it."

"Get what?" Roxas asked and then suddenly knew the answer. "Oh. They were from her victims." Axel nodded somberly and quickly sorted through the jewelry, taking anything of value and leaving the rest.

"Might as well sell it. There's no way we can return it to the families." He said and Roxas winced but nodded. Unless the pieces were signed, there was no way they'd be able to figure out who they had belonged to. "There, I think that's about done it. You got all the pearls?"

"Yes." His pant pockets were full of them. They clinked together unpleasantly as he walked and Roxas made a mental note to find a bag of some sort for them. Axel smiled and started out.

"Great. C'mon, let's go." Roxas didn't need any prompting and followed the redhead closely. He didn't want to spend a moment longer in the torture room than he had to. "Maybe we should go outside, find a good place to sit and you can call your parents?" Axel said with a resigned note to his voice. Roxas sighed and nodded.

"I suppose I have to." He wasn't looking forward to that at all. The priests would have had to explain everything to his parents after the way he'd vanished and there was no way what they'd said would be at all flattering to Axel. They were going to have kittens when he told them he was with the cambion. Big, hairy kittens with very large teeth. Roxas looked up as he realized how silent Axel was and gently touched his arm. "Don't worry. It doesn't matter what they think, I'm always going to be there for you." Axel was his and no one was going to force them apart. The redhead slowly smiled and gently touched Roxas' cheek with one clawed hand.

"You're so sweet." He murmured and Roxas found himself caught in those beautiful, burning green eyes. They kissed slowly and tenderly before Roxas pulled back with a smile.

"Outside?" He reminded Axel who laughed and took his hand. It took a bit of work to find the way out, but then, Axel's mother had never taken him outside. Roxas was rather impressed when he saw the grounds around the manor. It was a beautiful forest with lots of maple and birch trees. There was nothing like a garden though, and the manor looked like it was beginning to fall apart. Vines were slowly pushing apart the stones and the roof looked like it desperately needed some upkeep. "It's a shame really. This is a beautiful building." Roxas gazed at it forlornly.

"Hm. Maybe we could live here someday. Reclaim it…" Axel murmured softly then shook his head. "Not yet." For that to happen he would have to be able to claim his heritage openly. It might never be possible. Roxas nodded and flipped open his cell phone. "I'm going to try to hunt something."

"Thanks." Roxas smiled, appreciating the privacy as Axel loped off into the woods. He didn't really want the cambion to hear his parents' reaction. Taking a deep breath, he dialed the home number.

_Hello? _Roxas couldn't help but smile at the sound of his mother's voice.

"Hi mom." There was a shocked pause and then Roxas had to hold the cell phone away from his ear as his mother shrieked.

_ROXAS! Where have you been?!? It's been a month! Oh my baby, are you alright? What has that monster done to you?_ Roxas blinked at that. A month? But then, nothing said time had to run at the same rate in the Abyss.

"Um, I kind of went to Hell. The demons were actually really nice about it." Although that was solely due to Axel. Roxas could almost hear his mother's brain imploding. "And he's not a monster mom. He's my boyfriend."

_Roxas, you can't mean it. That creature is the son of a demon! He's eaten people. The priests told us everything. _His mother sounded distraught now. Roxas gritted his teeth. He wasn't surprised but this still pissed him off.

"Everything? Did they leave out the part about how his mother wouldn't feed him until he ate them?" That was somewhat true since his mother wouldn't give Axel any food for days afterwards. He could have let the rats eat the bodies but the smell in such a confined area… "Did they mention that he was kept in a cellar all his life and he still tried not to eat the first one? He's not evil mother. He's just a bit hot tempered but he's really nice when you get to know him." Roxas wasn't sure he'd be able to convince his parents. They were both pretty religious.

_Where are you baby? We'll come get you. _His mother had clearly decided not to fight about it for now. Roxas bit his lip. He and Axel had had plenty of time to discuss the problems with his situation.

"So Axel can be whisked off to a sanitarium?" There was a short silence that made Roxas' blood boil. His mother wasn't very good at lying and he was sure that was what they'd do. "No thanks mom. Tell the police I'm fine, I'm not kidnapped and I'm not coming home." Roxas shut the phone with a snap and scowled at it. Then he quickly dialed another number before his mother could call him back.

'_Ello? _Roxas smiled at the blurry edge to Cloud's voice. Had he been eating something?

"Hi Cloud. How's it going?" He asked. There was a brief pause on the other end.

_Holy shit Roxas?!? Are you okay? Everyone's been freaking out! _Roxas laughed and quickly reassured Cloud he was fine. _That's good. Where have you been?_

"Hell. Axel's dad has really nice taste. Although the balor who called me 'snack sized' wasn't so cool." Roxas hadn't really wanted to see a balor but they'd needed to speak to Axel's father again and one had been there. He could see why Axel would be foolish to gate in one without Graz'zt's blessing. He might be strong enough to defeat one but certainly not control it. "Cloud, if mom calls tell her you haven't heard from me. Can Axel and I come live with you and Tifa?"

_What? Roxy, what's going on? _Roxas gave him a quick rundown of the situation. _You really think they'd just ship him off to a sanitarium?_

"Cloud… that's what they usually do with cambions. They say it's to evaluate them and determine if they can live outside but there's just no way they'd ever let Axel go." Roxas was unhappily sure of that. The redhead was just too strong. "If we're in the city there would be more protection." The church had a certain degree of authority when it came to things like demons but Roxas and Axel could probably appeal to the police and other civil authorities. How much help that would be was another question. "We're not sure what else to do." The only other option was to leave the country and Roxas didn't want to do that. He hoped he could eventually go home to the islands when everyone had been convinced Axel was under control.

_Hm… alright. We've got a guest room, we can put you up for a while. I'm curious to see a cambion. Do you need a pickup? Where are you? _Roxas hesitated. He didn't actually know where the cold woman's house was located.

"You know the story of the Witch of the Moor? We're at her home. Axel's home, I guess, he'd own it now. I'm not sure where it is." That was going to be a serious problem soon. Although there was a dirt path leading away from the house and he guessed it had to lead to a larger road.

_Hang on a sec. _Roxas waited patiently as Cloud tapped on his laptop. _Hm, okay. You're about twenty miles away from Visch. Actually… Roxas, just stay where you are. I'll come get you, okay?_ Roxas blinked at that.

"But Cloud! You have classes and work at the bar." He protested. How could Cloud afford to spare that much time? It would take at least a day, probably two for him to get there and the same coming back. But his brother laughed.

_Don't worry! Tifa will give me some time off to help and I can catch up my notes later. Seriously though, your friend must look pretty freakish. Do you really want to be wandering around Visch looking for bus tickets? _Roxas winced at the thought. Axel did really stand out. _I'll bring a cloak for him. Hell, maybe he can get a job at the bar, most of the drunks wouldn't know the difference, the light's so dim. _Roxas choked at the thought, then laughed. Somehow he couldn't imagine Axel serving drinks and dealing with drunk customers. Well, without ripping their lungs out anyway.

"Thanks Cloud, I really appreciate it." Roxas closed his cell as Axel jogged up. He was carrying a freshly killed rabbit. "I hope you know how to cook that?" From the look on the redhead's face he was completely clueless. "Or at least how to skin it?"

"Oh, that I can handle. How did it go?" Axel began to work the skin off , slicing through the carcass with his nails. Roxas sighed, watching him work.

"About how we expected." He said sadly as Axel pitched the innards into the forest, pausing to eat the heart. "Ew, Axel…" The redhead grinned at him and Roxas shook his head with a smile. "Can't you wait until it's cooked?"

"Hearts are better raw." Axel said with mock seriousness. "So your parents didn't take it well?" He knew they were probably going to freak.

"To say the least – ah?" Roxas' cell went off and he lifted it to see his parents number. "It's them. Great… let me see if they have anything new to say." Axel shrugged and started gathering wood for a fire as Roxas talked to his father. The blonde ended up hanging up in disgust. "At least they're not lying to me." His father had been unwilling to give him any promises about Axel being able to stay. Roxas wanted to curse out the priests something fierce. What had they said to his parents? "Cloud is coming to get us, he knows where we are. It might take him a day or two though."

"Well, that's no problem. There's lots of game in the woods and we still have the food the demons gave us." Axel hesitated, looking at Roxas. The blonde was struck by the odd vulnerability in his face. "Are you okay with this? I mean… I'm causing a lot of problems for you." Axel swallowed, looking down. He knew that if he wasn't there Roxas would be able to go right home to the Islands. How were they going to be together? The blonde shook his head, walking over to grip Axel's shoulder. He would have hugged the redhead but there was blood on his hands.

"Don't worry about it. I wouldn't trade you for anything." Roxas said and meant it. Axel smiled and reached up to touch his cheek then pulled his hand away as he remembered the blood. Roxas laughed softly. "You better get that cleaned up before it dries. I doubt there's any running water in the house." Although they'd have to check that. Maybe there was a well. Axel made a face and started to lick off his fingers. Roxas started looking for a nice, sharp stick. He finally found one that looked acceptable and used it to spit the rabbit. It took a while, but between the rabbit and the bread and cheese in their packs, they had a feast.

They fell asleep together outside that night, Roxas curled up on Axel's chest. The redhead watched the stars for a while, marveling in their beauty. In all his life he'd never slept outside before. He found it to be a liberating feeling, lying beneath the wide open sky. And it was even better with Roxas there. The cambion looked down at the sleeping blonde and gently stroked his hair before closing his eyes and drifting off.

He hoped this never ended.


	11. Good TV and Bad Pizza

"I hope Cloud gets here soon. I think I'm getting a rash." Roxas grumbled as he stepped out of the bushes, adjusting his clothing. Axel snickered. "It's not funny."

"Sure it is. Do you know how long it took the priests to teach me to use TP in the first place?" Axel asked as he knawed on a bone. Roxas sat down across from him, watching him for a moment. The cambion looked particularly handsome, lit by the fire and chewing on a rabbit bone like a savage.

"I'm sure it took them forever. Just like it took them to teach you to bathe. And I need a bath too." Roxas thought longingly of being clean. It had been almost two days and he was starting to feel seriously grubby. Axel grimaced and tossed his bone into the fire, scratching his head lightly with one clawed finger.

"Don't remind me." The redhead sighed, gazing into the fire thoughtfully. "I didn't notice when I was dirty all the time, but once you learn how to get clean it's a hard habit to break. Dirt itches something fierce." Then he grinned, white teeth flashing in the dim light of evening. "Not to mention it's hard to get your sexy on when we're both dirty and you're getting a rash on your ass."

"Axel!" Roxas couldn't help but laugh. "Is that all you ever think of?" He teased the cambion, who shrugged with a smile.

"Hey, my dad corrupts people with lust – someone's coming!" Axel jumped to his feet and Roxas turned, surprised. He couldn't hear anything but he was willing to take Axel's word for it.

"It must be Cloud." He said brightly. Axel looked a bit uneasy but nodded. If someone had been tapping Cloud's phone lines they could have come gotten them much sooner. On the other hand, had they timed it so the arrival of a car wouldn't alarm them? Axel bit his lip and decided to go with Roxas. He preferred action anyway and it was probably Cloud. The car came rattling up and Axel relaxed as his sharp eyes picked out familiar blonde hair.

"Roxas!" Cloud called as soon as he got out of the car and the smaller blonde ran to his brother, giving him a tight hug. Cloud hugged him back, smiling widely. "How have you been? Let me look at you." Cloud examined Roxas a moment and seemed relieved as his brother made a face.

"Great except for the no running water and no toilets. We're lucky Axel's father gave us supplies." Roxas replied. They'd have been in trouble without the water bottles. They'd looked but hadn't been able to locate a well on the property. Cloud looked up with a frown and met burning green eyes.

"Uh…" He paled a little then shook his head before offering Axel a hand to shake. "I just want to say one thing. I don't care what you are. If you hurt Roxas, I'll hunt you down, got it?" Cloud was trying to sound tough although the hint of uneasiness in his expression wasn't helping with that. Axel repressed a grin. He knew Roxas' brother didn't have a hope of harming him but he didn't doubt Cloud would try.

"Cloud! I can take care of myself." Roxas said, exasperated. "He – Axel?" Axel had rested a hand on his shoulder and the blonde looked up at him quizzically.

"It's okay Roxy." Axel murmured, planting a gentle kiss on his forehead before looking at Cloud. "I would never hurt him." The quiet sincerity in his voice clearly made Cloud feel better. The older blonde smiled and gestured for them to get in.

"Shotgun!" Axel looked at Roxas, perplexed, as he grabbed the door and jumped inside. Cloud laughed as he went back to the driver's side and Axel shrugged, taking the back. He had to move a backpack out of the way and idly wondered what was inside it. Well, Cloud had been travelling for two days so it could be a lot of things.

"Shotgun?" He asked and Roxas looked back at him with a smile.

"It means I get the front seat." He explained and Axel filed that away for future use. Cloud started the car and carefully turned around before starting back down the rugged trail that led to the main highway. Axel bit his lip, closing his eyes for a moment as he got used to riding in a car. He supposed the priests might have used something similar to take him from his mother's mansion to the monastery but he couldn't remember any of it. They'd given him some drugged candy and coaxed him into eating it. He hadn't really wanted to, but it had been clear at the time that it was the candy or a crossbow bolt.

"So, from Roxy's description I figured you might need some stuff to wear." Cloud said conversationally as they reached the highway. "There's a hoodie in the backpack, along with some sunglasses. I also borrowed Tifa's makeup. She's probably going to kill me but it might help with those marks on your skin." Axel blinked. Trying to blend in hadn't really occurred to him. He'd always assumed it was a lost cause. Sorting through the backpack, he quickly pulled on the grey hoodie. It was a bit hot for summer time but that wouldn't bother him a bit. Axel put the sunglasses on and quickly decided he liked them. They didn't impair his vision much and a quick check in the car mirror showed him that they looked pretty stylish. The makeup was more difficult and Axel was snarling to himself by the time he had it applied to his satisfaction.

"This stuff itches." He grumbled, scratching his cheek with the tip of his nail. Roxas turned around in his seat and looked at him carefully.

"It really does help though. You look like you have peeling skin. The only thing that really stands out now is your nails." Axel glanced down at his fingers. "I don't know how we could fix those." Roxas knew Axel's nails were hard and sharp enough to cut through steel. What could be used to file them? Diamonds?

"Fix them?" Axel examined his nails thoughtfully. "I dunno Roxy. That would take away one of my main defenses." He was good with his talons and used to using them as a weapon.

"You can't kill people much anyway if we're going to stay together." Roxas said softly, reaching back to touch his hand. Axel looked up with a small smile, meeting concerned blue eyes.

"There's always self-defense Roxy." Although that energetic a defense might not go over well in the eyes of the law. Axel shrugged. "But I guess I could learn karate. Hey, you gonna teach me?" Axel playfully poked Cloud on the shoulder. "Oops, sorry." There was a small hole in his shirt now. Cloud glanced down and shook his head before concentrating on the road.

"It's nothing. So Axel, how old are you?" Cloud asked, skipping past the usual questions about family. For Axel those would only be painful. The redhead had to think about it.

"Cambions mature early." He finally said. "I think I was fifteen when Xemnas put me in the mirror." Roxas glanced back at him, surprised, and Axel shrugged. "I think I aged a few years in the mirror. Say seventeen?" Roxas nodded. That made sense. He'd though Axel was a bit older than him, but only a bit. The younger blonde turned on the radio, flipping through various stations. "Hey, that sounds nice."

"Classical?" Cloud said in confusion and Roxas snickered. From Axel's memories he knew the cambion's sole exposure to music had been the choir when Father Patrick had taken him to Mass. Axel hadn't liked it much but that had only been because he'd been heavily warded and bound to make sure he wouldn't be a threat to any of the monks. He'd liked the music. "You look like you should be into heavy metal." Axel rolled his eyes behind his glasses.

"I've been on ice for thirty-seven years. Remember?" He pointed out and Cloud thought a moment before laughing.

"Then let's try classical rock!" He flipped the station a bit more, finally settling on a golden oldies station. "When you got put away would have been about when the Beatles were hitting it big." Axel tilted his head as he listened to the strains of Hey Jude. Roxas belatedly realized that he hadn't introduced the cambion to much in the way of music. Roxas didn't mind music but he wasn't really into it either.

"That's interesting." Axel said diplomatically when the song was over. "Classical?" He said in a wheedling tone. Cloud sighed before flipping the station back to the first one. Orchestral music filled the car. "I really like that!"

"Your taste desperately needs updating." To Cloud, music like this was mood music. Pleasant enough for a background but not something to really get into. "Well, it'll do." It was pleasant enough and Roxas didn't care one way or the other. Axel grinned and sat back, lacing his fingers behind his head. "I've got a hotel room. It's not much but there's two beds."

"And a shower!" Roxas said longingly, scratching his hair. Cloud laughed. "It's not funny. I haven't had a bath in two days and I've been crapping in the woods."

"And he has a rash." Axel said with a grin as Roxas growled at him, blue eyes flashing. "In unmentionable areas – hey!" Axel caught the bottle of hand cream Roxas tossed at him easily and looked it over. "Aloe vera? What's that?"

"That's Tifa's, don't you ruin it. I'm already going to be in enough trouble for taking her makeup." Cloud said firmly and Axel grinned, passing the tube back to Roxas who stored it in the glove compartment. "Both of you behave."

"Yes Cloud." Roxas said obediently but shot Axel a look that quickly dissolved into something warmer. He just couldn't stay mad at Axel and truth be told, he didn't want to. Roxas reached back and felt a warm, almost hot hand slipping into his own. He had no idea what they could do to convince everyone Axel would be good, but for now they were safe.

That would have to be enough.

* * *

Roxas sighed in pleasure as the hot water sleeted over him. It felt wonderful, glorious to finally be clean again. He picked up the little bar of hotel soap and began giving himself a thorough cleaning, finding all the hard to reach spots.

"Hey there." Roxas glanced lazily over his shoulder, smiling at the soft, sexy purr. Axel lowered his glasses to look at Roxas over the top, his eyes glowing with emerald fire. "Mind if I join you?"

"Before I use up all the hot water? Sure." Roxas smiled as Axel shed his clothing and joined him in the shower. The redhead was so beautiful unclothed, all lean muscles over his tall, lanky frame. Axel tilted his head up to catch the spray, luxuriating in it for a moment. Then he laughed as the blonde firmly turned him around and began lathering up his hair.

"You're not standing on tip toes to do that, are you?" Axel asked, amused and enjoying the feeling of strong fingers against his scalp. Roxas chuckled and nuzzled his shoulder for a moment.

"Not hardly." He said with a smile as Axel grabbed the soap and began to get rid of Tifa's makeup. Roxas was just as glad. While it did a good job at making him look normal, the effect wasn't that attractive. The black lines looked so otherworldly… Roxas did stand on his top toes then, so he could run his tongue over one of the lines on Axel's shoulders, tasting the heat of his skin. Axel shivered and Roxas was sure he knew why.

"Roxas." The deep, sexy purr in Axel's voice sent a jolt to his groin. Roxas moaned softly as the redhead turned around, arms encircling him as Axel lowered his face for a kiss. Roxas was lost in the sensation and almost didn't notice when his feet slipped a little on the slippery tub. Axel caught him easily, supporting his weight as Roxas slid a hand between his legs, finding his heavy sacks and –

"Guys?" Axel growled and Roxas made a small, protesting sound as Cloud knocked on the door. "I can guess what you're up to but I want to warn you the walls are super thin and the pizza just arrived." Roxas winced at the thought of Cloud listening in on their romantic interlude and glanced up into Axel's face. From the look there, the cambion was torn.

"Do we care that he can hear us and the food's getting cold?" Axel asked and Roxas laughed, regaining his balance and pulling away a bit.

"I don't care much about the food but I think we might traumatize my oh-so straight brother for life." Axel sighed in disappointment but followed as Roxas stepped out of the tub, turning off the water. They were both clean enough. When they left the bathroom Cloud was eating a slice of pizza and watching the TV. He looked up and Roxas almost regretted that moment in the bathroom when he saw the amusement on his brother's face.

"Horny kids… you do realize that even if we sort all of this out and you can go home, mom and dad probably aren't going to be keen on you two doing the nasty under their roof?" Cloud said before taking a long drink of his coke. Axel looked befuddled as Roxas winced at the thought. His parents hearing them? Eeeek.

"Well, it's not like we can go down the aisle in a wedding dress." Axel protested and Roxas choked before slapping him on the back of his head. "What?" Axel rubbed his head, baffled, and gave Roxas a hurt look. It was somewhat ruined by his burning eyes but Roxas melted anyway and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I'm not a girl you know. I'm not wearing a dress." Roxas said firmly and Axel suddenly grinned.

"Of course not! I would be." Cloud choked on his pizza and Roxas' eyes widened at the image. "I want something in off white, with lots of sequines… hah! I'm just messing with you. I know guys can't get married." Axel said confidently and Roxas blinked, suddenly remembering. Gay marriage had been quite illegal thirty-seven years ago and Axel had been raised by a priest, as much as he'd been raised by anyone. The church had been even slower to recognize it.

"Actually, they can. It was legalized about five years ago." Roxas smiled sweetly at Axel's dumbfounded look. "I guess we'll have to start finding a dress for you."

"Hey now!" Axel protested as Roxas laughed. "I was just kidding. Although I'd wear a dress if it meant I'd be married to you." He added and Roxas felt his heart melt again. At this rate he was going to be nothing but a puddle of goo. He snuggled up to Axel on the couch and gripped bright red spikes, pulling the cambion down for a kiss. Cloud waited patiently for a moment as the two teenagers began to explore a bit, then cleared his throat. Roxas and Axel suddenly parted, blushing.

"I can see hormones are destroying your brains. Eat before the pizza gets cold." Roxas began to eat his pizza dutifully. It was the cheapest brand possible and tasted a bit like cardboard. Axel took a bite and made a face.

"The monks cooked better than this." He muttered and Roxas nodded.

"I bet they did. All this has going for it is that it's cheap." Then he shrugged. "But it's very cheap." Axel nodded then hesitated. That reminded him of something.

"Hey Cloud?" Axel figured they could trust Roxas' brother, so it was probably time to level with him. "We have some money. I knew where my mother kept her stash and the priests didn't find it, so we took it. You still got those pearls Roxy?" Roxas nodded and began emptying his pockets as Cloud stopped chewing on his pizza. He stared as Axel pulled out the bills he'd found, then frowned and began leafing through them.

"It's about thirty thousand dollars. We counted." Roxas said helpfully. That had probably been an immense sum thirty-seven years ago and it was still sizeable today. "We're not sure what the pearls and jewelry are worth." Cloud looked at the jewelry, his frown deepening as he took in the mismatched assortment of objects. To Axel's relief he didn't ask where his mother had gotten them.

"Hm. This jewelry might be worth quite a bit, but we'll have to take it to a pawnshop. So we won't get too much for it." Cloud rolled a pearl across the table thoughtfully. "These might be worth more but I have no real idea how to sell them. I'll have to ask Tifa, she likes jewelry."

"If we can't sell them maybe you could get a necklace made for her." Axel suggested and Roxas frowned slightly, then shrugged. They were Axel's pearls, really. He could do what he wanted with them. Cloud smiled briefly and shook his head.

"She's not that fond of pearls. We'll think of something. Want me to put these in my backpack?" Roxas nodded, feeling relieved. He'd been getting tired of hauling the pearls around. Cloud quickly stored them in a side pocket and put the cash in a zipped up compartment in the centre. It would be very hard for anyone to steal that without taking the whole backpack.

The rest of the night passed quite pleasantly. Cloud drew Axel out during commercial breaks and Roxas was glad to see his brother seemed to like the cambion. Axel was relaxed and enjoying himself, his arm snugly around Roxas' waist. They ended up watching Iron Chef and Axel laughed at the announcer's antics and eyed the final creations longingly.

"I'd love to try food like that someday." He looked ruefully at his half-eaten pizza. "I bet those guys never made anything like this, even when they were kids." Roxas tried to imagine one of the Iron Chef's making cardboard pizza. No, he couldn't picture it.

"I'm sure they've all done something equally terrible. No one is perfect… but I'm sure they threw it out rather than serving it to someone." Cloud picked up another piece of pizza, chewing on the soggy crust. "It does make this seem even worse though, doesn't it? We'll get something better next time. You're paying." Axel smiled, amused.

"Sure." He said agreeably. Money didn't mean a lot to him since he'd never had any. Roxas frowned faintly and poked him in the side, making the cambion look down at him questioningly.

"We should save most of that." He cautioned. "You're going to need it for school." Axel looked startled and Roxas wasn't surprised. He clearly hadn't thought of what he'd do in the future.

"I need school? The monks taught me a lot…" Axel's voice trailed off. "But it was pretty lopsided." He admitted. The priests had taught him to read, write and do basic math. Then they'd taught him mostly about religion. His brief education hadn't touched on things like science. "I dunno Roxy. Maybe I should get an apprenticeship at something?" Axel thought that might be better. He was good with his hands and almost tireless.

"Oh. Maybe." Roxas smiled as an idea came to him. "If mom and dad get with the problem they could teach you to be a locksmith! We could expand the business." The Islands really only needed one locksmith but that was fine. They could split the work and maybe solicit work online. Axel looked interested.

"I already know how to pick locks a bit." He volunteered and Roxas wondered how he'd picked that up. Probably when he was trying to outwit the monks. "Or maybe I could be a carpenter or something. I can cut wood like a snap." Axel flexed his fingers, neatly slicing through his pizza… then swearing as part of it fell on the floor. "Damn!" He carefully picked up the shred of half devoured bread and cheese as Cloud laughed.

"You guys are thinking too much. Let's worry about getting our folks on the same page first." He advised and Roxas nodded. If he couldn't get his parents working with them, maybe he could use the money to start his own locksmith business? Although thirty thousand was awfully low for that. And the church was still going to be a problem. Roxas sighed to himself and looked at the TV as Iron Chef came on again. Cloud was right, he was thinking too much.

The future would just have to sort itself out.


	12. Temptations and Revelations

_Axel examined the room he was standing in, frowning. He was sure he had never seen it before in his life._

_The walls were mirrors. Endless mirrors, reflecting him hundreds of times. It would have made an ordinary mortal dizzy but to Axel the effect was only mildly disconcerting. What was more worrisome was the black skinned demon standing behind him. Axel glanced back as a warm hand settled on his shoulder, meeting glowing green eyes. The pressure felt vague and distant._

"_I'm dreaming." He realized and Graz'zt nodded. "You're doing this?" It was just a guess but it was a good guess. Graz'zt smiled for a moment._

"_Of course. This is my Hundredfold Hall of Silver. It's where I go to reflect." Axel glanced around thoughtfully for a moment. He was sure his father went here to indulge his vanity, but it was a thought best left unsaid. "But this isn't what I want to show you. Come." Axel felt a familiar dislocation as Graz'zt teleported them within the demonic plain, and a thought suddenly occurred to him. This was the same as how he'd teleported himself and Roxas back to the real world, but within the Abyss. Could HE teleport them within the real world? And would that be easier than crossing the barriers into the Abyss?_

_Shelving that thought for later Axel looked around the place his father had brought him to. It was… not particularly impressive. A great wasteland filled with burning sands, Axel could distantly feel the burning heat. It felt good and he had to resist the urge to scoop up a bit of the red sand and play with it. Graz'zt seemed to sense his desire and laughed, a long, loud chuckle._

"_You're still such a child." The demon lord's fingers combed through his hair fondly and Axel accepted the caress although he didn't trust it. But only a fool would trust Graz'zt without question. "Someday, this land could be yours."_

"_It could?" Axel looked around dubiously. "Can I pass?" He liked it well enough but the young cambion thought it would get old very fast. His father's teeth flashed white against black skin for a moment as he grinned._

"_Not as it is now, of course." Graz'zt gestured contemptuously at the endless sands. "As it is now, it's an intermediary plane, of no use to anyone and claimed by no one… save perhaps myself. However, when my plan takes affect this shall be a layer worthy of the Abyss." Axel blinked, wondering how this pertained to him. He was sure Graz'zt didn't just intend to give him this place. "I will be its overlord, but you could administrate it for me. A place of power, just for you."_

"_How do I earn it?" He asked bluntly, tiring of the temptations his father was laying in front of them. Those temptations were working although probably not as much as Graz'zt would have liked. Axel felt a thrill at the idea of being a ruler and having absolute power, but it was tempered by a vague uneasiness. After a moment he realized why. He hadn't cared at all for being in his mother's power and both Roxas and Father Patrick had tried to teach him empathy. Did he want to put other beings in that position? He'd hated his mother. Did he want to be like her? Graz'zt was speaking, oblivious to his musings._

"_You earn it by helping me conquer a material plane, child." Axel bit his lip and his father seemed to understand his thoughts, suddenly snagging his chin and lifting it with one clawed finger to force the redhead to meet his eyes. "There's more than one world. It doesn't have to be the one you came from."_

"_It doesn't?" Axel echoed and Graz'zt laughed, letting him go._

"_No. In fact, that world is not my first choice. It's becoming too advanced, too difficult to penetrate. We would conquer a plane full of people you don't know and don't care about." Graz'zt smiled wickedly, showing his pearly white teeth. "And bring it here, to fuse with the Abyssal plane. Soon there would be nothing but demons here. A great rulership… if you have what it takes." Graz'zt eyed him thoughtfully and Axel swallowed. "You're a late bloomer, but I suppose that's to be expected. Iuz was just taking over his first estate at your age and both Iggwilv and I taught him." The demon lord knew that kind of precociousness just couldn't be expected of Axel. He was completely untrained in both war and magic. It was really quite rare for one of his children. Most were the products of willing liaisons with ambitious witches or foolish young women and they raised the children normally. Not many had been neglected like Axel. Fortunately, cambions instinctively knew basic things like languages and were almost as hard to break as demons, sanity wise. If that had not been so Axel would have been useless to him. "Fortunately, there's plenty of time. My sister won't be ready for hundreds of years yet." Axel blinked at that and suddenly wondered. Did he have family in the Abyss? Then he wanted to smack himself. Of course he wasn't Graz'zt's only child!_

"_Are my abilities really that rare?" Axel asked, deciding to skip past any questions about his demonic family. He probably didn't want to know. Graz'zt looked thoughtful for a moment, gazing out over the sands. A vulture demon circled overhead, hopeful that it had found a pair of lost adventurers to devour. Graz'zt looked up and it urgently found business elsewhere._

"_Hm, perhaps. I haven't tried to replicate the spells your mother cast yet. You may be unique." Graz'zt chuckled softly. "Even your half-brother Iuz must summon demons through me or Pazuzu. You have the power in your own right. And others. Iuz is more powerful than you, but he drained countless demi-gods and other beings to become what he is. You could become almost as powerful as me simply by virtue of what you are." Axel found that hard to believe but something inside of him said it was true. He'd instinctively used dominations and possession inside the mirror and he'd just recently learned to teleport between the planes. What else could he do? "And if you only swear allegiance to me, I will teach you. You can be everything you could ever wish to be…" The demon lord's hands were on his shoulders and Axel shivered as he felt the promise of power. He had no doubt Graz'zt could deliver on his promise and probably would, if Axel was faithful. He knew from his mother that the black demon owned three layers of the Abyss and had administrators for all of them._

"_Not yet." Axel forced the words out, fighting past Graz'zt's charm. It wasn't easy but he only had to think of Roxas. If he accepted his father's offer right now he would never see the blonde again. "I – I have business at home." Graz'zt sighed before releasing him._

"_That little boy who thinks he can convert you to the ways of light and goodness." His father's tone was sardonic and Axel flushed. "He's as much a fool as that priest was, but we all have to make our own mistakes. Just try not to get killed. My death led to banishment… yours would simply lead to your end." Graz'zt suddenly frowned and looked at Axel intently. The redhead didn't know what to say so sensibly stayed silent. Graz'zt was quiet for a long moment, in deep thought. Then he shook his head and gestured at the sands. "You can play if you like." Axel looked at the sands then laughed and scooped them up. They almost burnt even his tough skin and he loved the feel of them._

"_I think I might like to live here." He murmured to himself as Graz'zt vanished, teleporting back to his palace. "It's beautiful." And it was. The desert had a harsh, uncompromising beauty that called to him._

_Perhaps, when Roxas was gone, he would call this place home._

* * *

When Axel awoke the next day it was to hot room. Roxas had kicked off his blankets sometime in the night and Axel could still see the beads of sweat on his creamy skin. He smiled and gently wiped them away then glanced up as he heard Cloud groan.

"The hell… the heating system must be broken. Damn stupid cheap hotel." Cloud grumbled as he pulled himself out of bed and went to take a cold shower. Axel decided against telling him that it probably wasn't the fault of the hotel. Dream or not, his experience had been real enough that some of the heat of the desert had found its way here. The redhead shrugged and settled into the blankets, utterly comfortable with the heat. Roxas made a strange little sound and Axel cocked an eyebrow at him before he realized the younger boy was snoring. He smiled and leaned over to give Roxas a gentle kiss on the forehead. The baby snores stuttered to a stop as Roxas blinked.

"Mmm… morning." Roxas murmured and Axel felt his heart melt all over again. As tempting as Graz'zt's offer was, he couldn't take it. Not yet. Roxas snuggled up against him before lifting his head with a frown. "Why's it so hot in here?" At first he'd thought the heat was just Axel's body temperature but it clearly wasn't. Axel shrugged.

"Busted thermostat?" He suggested brightly and Roxas shot him a suspicious look. "Really! I didn't take a dream trip to the Abyss and speak to my dad or anything!"

"Axel…" Roxas didn't know whether to smack him or laugh and finally did both. Axel pretended to cringe. "You're terrible. What did your dad have to say?" That really did concern the blonde. Axel shrugged.

"He just offered to train me and make me his deputy in the Abyss. About what you'd expect." Roxas gave him a worried look and Axel gave him a reassuring smile. "He pointed out that I don't have to lead his army in this world. There's a lot of worlds."

"Oh." Roxas frowned, then shook his head. "Those worlds would have people – oh." Cloud had just exited the shower. "Come on, let's shower and talk about it." Roxas really didn't want his brother to overhear the nuts and bolts of Graz'zt's offers to Axel. Right now he seemed to be thinking of the redhead as a good kid who'd had a rough life and just needed a chance. Roxas didn't want to harm that perception. Axel obediently followed although he was sure he was going to get a talk about respecting the lives of people he didn't know. As Roxas turned on the water he decided to head it off at the pass.

"Roxy, I know what you mean about hurting people but if Graz'zt can pull a material plane into the Abyss everyone on it will eventually become demons. And demons don't deserve anything but a knife in the ribs." Axel was sure Graz'zt would have laughed at that. "And this way I wouldn't hurt you or any of your descendants. Although you better not have descendants. That would make me mad." He added thoughtfully and Roxas laughed before pulling off his pajamas and stepping into the shower. Axel watched him appreciatively for a moment before stepping into the spray. The cold water made him wince and immediately killed any romantic thoughts.

"I'm not planning on it. But Axel, the people on that world would be people too." Roxas said more seriously. He placed a hand on the redhead's chest and Axel shivered at the contact. "You don't think there would be anyone like me there? Or anyone like you?" Roxas said softly and Axel struggled to think of a reply. It was hard with Roxas looking at him, so concerned.

"Not like you. You're unique." Axel said firmly and bent down to give Roxas a gentle kiss. The blonde returned the attention before he grabbed the shampoo and began lathering up. Axel took it as soon as he was done, working the flower scented liquid into his spiky hair. Being clean really was a wonderful thing when you got used to it.

"Thanks, but you know what I mean." Roxas said seriously and Axel had to bite back a sigh. He wasn't stupid and he did understand. But…

"We'll see Roxy." Axel was honest with himself and the truth was, he really did want to take his father's offer. The Abyss called to him with a power that was hard to resist. It might be a barbaric, brutal place but to a deep part of him it felt like home. "But I promise I won't hurt you." He murmured, gently touching the blonde's cheek. Roxas sighed and forced a smile.

"It'll have to do." They finished washing in silence and Axel felt a little guilty for making Roxas worry. Maybe he shouldn't have mentioned his father's communication at all. Axel resolved not to bother Roxas in the future. He wasn't going to take his father up on his offers until after the blonde was gone, so really, what did it matter? They dried up quickly and Axel was surprised when Roxas gave him a quick hug. "I love you anyway." The blonde murmured and Axel smiled slowly.

"Thanks." It meant a lot to him, that Roxas loved him in spite of his torn feeling about his father's temptations. Axel was pretty sure Father Patrick would have been horrified. Well, the old man hadn't known everything.

Soon they were all down in the diner attached to the motel. It wasn't much of a restaurant but they could cook an egg and grill up some toast. Axel was rather taken with the bacon, particularly since he got all of it.

"I don't see why you guys don't like this." He said as he munched the charred strips. Cloud made a face as Roxas snorted his root beer.

"I don't see how you can eat it. It's charcoal." Cloud said. Axel grinned and for once, his smile was far from colgate perfect. The sooty bacon had stained his pearly teeth. For once, Roxas was not in the least tempted to give the cambion a kiss. He was sure Axel would taste like burnt bacon.

"I think it's great." Axel said happily as he chowed down on another strip. "I bet it will help my acid breath." Axel spat a tiny droplet onto the plate where it sizzled through and into the table. "Yep."

"Axel!" Roxas couldn't help but laugh. "This might be an awful diner but stop putting holes in the plates." Then he glanced under the table. "And the table." Axel grinned but desisted, trying his egg and toast instead. He looked a touch astonished as the egg yolk ruptured and dripped off the edge of the toast. Axel had to lick the yolk off his fingers and finally clean them off with a napkin. The waitress slapped down the bill onto the table as they were still eating. "What's her problem?" Roxas asked sotto voice and Cloud shrugged.

"Who knows." He picked up the bill and glanced it over before taking it to the cash register to pay. He was done eating anyway. Axel finished wolfing down his food and took a deep drink of the hot coffee. Then he stood, stretching and ruffling his bright red hair with one hand. Roxas marveled at how normal he looked with the makeup and dark shades. Maybe that was why the waitress had been so rude… it wasn't really normal to be wearing sunglasses inside a diner with fluorescent lighting. Pushing the thought away, Roxas stood and pulled up his pants a bit. Cloud had brought a change of clothes for him too but it was all much too big. Soon they were all settled in the car again and making their way out of Visch. Axel peered out of the windows curiously, watching the city going by.

"I'm going to get some donuts and coffee before we leave town. Any flavors you guys like?" Cloud asked as he spotted a Robert's Donuts. Axel scratched his head with one clawed finger as Roxas answered eagerly.

"Walnut chocolate please!" Those were his favorites. Cloud glanced at Axel who shrugged.

"Whatever." He had never tried a donut in his life. The monks hadn't made any. Cloud shrugged back and quickly went inside. Axel suddenly frowned, lifting his head and glancing out the window at the road.

"What is it?" Roxas asked as he noticed the redhead's sudden alertness. Axel hesitated then shook his head.

"I thought I saw some priests go by. Probably nothing important." Priests had to get places too, and Visch had a seminary. It really was probably nothing. Roxas frowned and glanced around but didn't see any priests or anything out of the ordinary. "Don't worry about it Roxy. There's nothing we can do if they're onto us anyway." Axel said comfortingly and Roxas shook his head.

"You should try thinking like your dad. What would he do if the priests were onto him?" Roxas asked and Axel paused, surprised. He'd never really been one to plan ahead but Roxas had a point. If he was going to take Graz'zt up on his offer he needed to start learning how to think rather than just react. Reacting had been how he handled most of his life and when he'd been a helpless child, it had made sense. But he wasn't helpless anymore. What could he do to stymie the priests if they caught up to them?

Axel frowned as he began pondering his powers. He hardly noticed it as Cloud got back into the car and passed back the box of donuts, taking a crueler for himself. Roxas had to poke him to get him out of his thoughts and Axel took a donut at random, ending up with a jam filled, sugar covered one. He munched on the sweet confection as Cloud got the car into gear and thought. He'd learned how to use mental dominations in the mirror. Surely he could use them outside the mirror. And if he could teleport between the planes he could teleport within them…

It was definitely something to think about.


	13. Happy Endings?

Axel tried to think like Graz'zt. What would the demon lord do with priests after him? Aside from kill them all.

_Find some way to discredit them. But how? _The redhead considered the question sleepily. They were on the road to Cloud's home and he could feel Roxas pressed up against his side, the blonde's head nestled on his shoulder. It was a very good question. How could he discredit the priests? Fake an angelic visitation? Axel vaguely wished he had Iuz's skill with magic. From what little Graz'zt had said he was sure his half-brother would have had no problem with such a task. Iggwilv was someone he'd heard of… the only witch to confine and use Graz'zt as she willed, until he tricked and tried to kill her. It was rumoured they even loved each other, in a dark and twisted fashion. Axel had overheard his mother wishing her own grasp on the demon lord was half as strong. But his thoughts were wandering. Axel tried to pull his attention back to the problem but couldn't find the will to consider it any further. He was very tired, the car was warm and Roxas felt good -

_**BANG!**_ The two boys both woke with starts as the car swerved and abruptly slowed. Cloud was cursing as he guided the vehicle to the shoulder of the road.

"We lost a tire. Don't worry, there's a spare in the trunk." He assured them as he got out of the car. Axel glanced outside and saw the sun was just setting. He chewed his lip for a moment then followed Cloud and Roxas slipped out behind him. "What the - we lost all four tires?" Cloud was staring at his car, taken aback, and Axel suddenly felt a chill down his spine. Moving instinctively he turned and ducked. He felt a breeze part his hair and caught the tiniest hint of motion. Cloud yelped and clapped a hand to his arm, swaying.

_A dart._ He'd been right about those priests! Axel spared a brief moment to worry about the effect of that dart on Cloud before grabbing Roxas' arm and bolting for the woods. There were shouts behind them and he hoped he was going the right way.

"Cloud!" Roxas looked back and Axel shook his head as they plunged into the brush.

"He'll be fine." He said and hoped he wasn't lying. A drug calculated to work on a cambion might be a bit strong for a human. Most drugs wouldn't work on him at all. But surely it had occurred to the priests that they might miss? "He's not the one they want." That was certainly true. Axel hesitated, trying to figure out where to go. A mindless run wasn't the right thing to do. But where could he go in the forest in the middle of nowhere?

"Bah." He muttered to himself and decided to take his father at his word. Graz'zt had promised help, now he could deliver. A moment of hard concentration and a black gateway began to open. Roxas gripped his arm tightly as a demon stepped out. Axel ignored his almost painful grasp, focusing on the demon. "In the name of Graz'zt I command you to aide me." He said formally as the demon hesitated. It was a tall, skeletal thing covered in a hideous red jelly. It took Axel a moment to place but then he realized it was a Babau. Every demon lord had Babau answering to him. Was this one answering to Graz'zt? He'd attempted to summon from his father's plane. But it was not Graz'zt's power that let him summon and Axel bent his will against the other demon. There was a brief contest before it yielded.

"Very well." The Babau hissed in a spectral whisper. "What goes?" Axel quickly outlined the situation as the Babau tried to summon in another of its kind. It snarled a curse as it failed. For anything but demon lords, summoning was never guaranteed to work. Axel felt a moment of unease as he realized his own portals would never fail. He wasn't sure how he knew that, but he knew. "I will delay your little priests." The Babau loped into the wilderness and Axel briefly wished the demon luck. He would need it.

"Axel… never mind." Roxas shook his head and put the monster out of his mind. Cloud was hurt and possibly badly. He'd worry about the priests getting hurt later. "Where are we going?"

"Away?" Axel felt frustrated. That was a terrible plan but he just couldn't do much better. "To Tifa's. She can help us. We can't be too far from the city." Roxas stayed quiet but Axel caught the dubious look on his face. Truthfully, he shared the feeling. What could Tifa do that they couldn't do themselves? Reason with the authorities maybe.

Axel was still mulling over the problem when he entered a clearing. There was a sharp flash of light and he flung his hand over his eyes, blinking rapidly as he dragged Roxas with him behind a tree. Roxas cried out in pain and Axel felt a surge of rage. His demonic side beckoned him to rush forward and shed blood but he held it back. He needed to be more clever than that. He needed to -

"Surrender." That voice! Axel snarled as he recognized it and silently vowed that Xemnas was going to _pay. "_We have you surrounded, cambion, and your infernal ally will soon be taken care of." Axel scowled to himself. He wasn't concerned at all about the Babau, its death would only banish it to the Abyss for a hundred years, but Xemnas' words suggested that they really were surrounded.

"Who is that?" Roxas mumbled, rubbing his face. Axel's eyesight was clearing but from the blind way Roxas was looking around his wasn't.

"Xemnas." Axel peeked around the tree and saw the Bishop standing there with several of his wizard priests, bold as brass. Oh he was going to pay. "Are you alright?" He was really worried. Roxas wasn't blinded, was he? The blond managed a weak smile.

"I'm fine. Just hurts. I can see a bit." Roxas rubbed his eyes again and Axel hoped the blinding spell was wearing off. But Roxas wouldn't be much help for the confrontation.

"Just let me take care of this." Axel gently touched the blonde's shoulder before raising his voice. "And if I do? What then?" He had a feeling he knew. There was a brief pause then Xemnas' smooth voice answered.

"You will be taken to the monastery for evaluation. No harm will come to you." Axel snorted to himself. He was sure Xemnas was using a very elastic definition of harm. Technically he hadn't been 'harmed' by the mirror either. Axel peeked cautiously around the tree and tensed as he saw a new priest hurrying up. It took effort but he managed to just barely hear what he was saying.

"…boy… need an ambulance…" Axel hissed to himself. Cloud! Xemnas voice carried more clearly.

"No. If he dies it will be God's will for harbouring that creature." Axel felt heat rush to his face and rage flamed through him like a deadly wave. Father Patrick would _never_ have said anything like that. Something seemed to click inside him and reached out to one of the wizard priests beside Xemnas. The man staggered and Axel could see Xemnas turn towards him disapprovingly but it didn't matter.

"Kill him." Axel's command rolled out of the night, vibrating with dark power and as impossible to resist as the sea. Xemnas' eyes seemed to widen.

"A tyrannical order! Kill him!" The priest snapped as Axel's temporary vassal began casting a spell. But the other wizards hesitated, reluctant to strike out at one of their own. Xemnas cursed and reached for a wand as Axel loped forwards, going on the offensive. As he moved he reached deep inside himself and found another ability, something he had been experimenting with before he'd been trapped in the mirror. But could it be used on an unwilling subject? He would just have to see.

As he was moving Axel struggled to gather and focus the power within himself. He wrapped one of the priests in it and the man looked up with a frown. Axel grinned wickedly as he placed an illusion of his own appearance on the man.

Confusion was running rampant. Between the sudden defection of one of their own and the appearance of two cambions, the priests were at a loss. To make things worse some of them threw off the effects of the illusion but not all. Axel ran through them like a buzz saw, his nails inflicting gruesome and painful wounds. His unwilling ally screamed as Xemnas hit him with a spell that fizzled and popped with an evil green light. Axel kept his gaze fixed on Xemnas, dodging a fireball and kicking a wizard in the face. He would get the priest. He would -

Axel jarred to a halt as his claws scraped over an invisible shield. It glowed with the power of order although it seemed oddly neutral to Axel. Pure order, untouched with good or evil. Xemnas turned and Axel found himself caught by sharp blue eyes.

"Argh!" The young cambion grunted in anguish as a spell of binding slammed into him. But it was meant to contain demons and his nature shrugged it off. Unfortunately he couldn't penetrate the shield the older man had wrapped around himself. He hunted for the power that could break the shell of order, fumbled with the words of blasphemy but there was no time. If he had been trained by Graz'zt he would have known them but here and now he had only his instincts to guide him.

"Enough. Surrender or you will be destroyed." Xemnas said firmly and Axel snarled as he realized his pause had dearly cost him. The priest/wizards had sorted themselves out and were readying spells. His unwilling ally was dead. "In the name of God -" That made Axel's temper, already short, snap.

"You hypocrite!" His bellow overrode Xemnas smooth voice easily and the priest paused with a nonplussed expression. "You wouldn't know God if he tea bagged you! The angels will strike you down where you stand!"

What happened next was entirely unexpected to everyone, Axel most of all. An explosion of pure white light ignited _within_ Xemnas' shield. The power that was meant to keep Axel out did a good job at keeping the explosion inside and everyone had to shield their eyes against the painful light. Axel stared at the darkened circle of grass that was all that was left of the Bishop and thought, _What now?_

"Kill that monster!"

_Oh. Right._ Axel was turning as that painful radiance suddenly started to build again… but this time around him. He braced himself for pain but felt nothing as the light grew until it filled his world and he drifted into a landscape of endless white…

* * *

"Ugh." Axel grunted, shifting slightly and feeling cool stone against his cheek. "Hmm." He relaxed slightly at the damp in the air and the cool darkness. It was a rainy day at the monastery. Although it was odd that he wasn't sleeping in his bed. Had he decided to sleep on the floor again? Father Patrick wouldn't like that…

_Wait. Father Patrick is dead. I spent forever in a mirror. Where am I? _Axel jerked upright, or rather tried to. He felt weak and sick. Lurching to his feet he swayed slowly, glancing around and blinked as he recognized the place. It was the cave on the island, the cave Roxas had taken shelter in during the storm. How had he gotten _here? _Axel scoured his memory and tried to recall using his powers to bring them here and came up blank. He could only remember the light. The soul searing, painful, yet strangely accepting light…

"Ow." Axel whirled and almost fell as he heard that muttered complaint. "Axel?" Cloud? The blonde man had a hand to his head. "I feel sick."

"They darted you with some stuff meant to work on me." Axel was relieved to see Roxas' brother was alive and almost well. And if he was here Roxas surely was. Right? It took a few moments of searching but Axel felt a surge of pure relief as he found his lover curled up on the floor of the cave. His position looked uncomfortable though and Axel frowned, carefully gathering Roxas into his arms and holding him close, resting the blonde's head on his shoulder. Roxas' breath tickled his skin and Axel smiled, enjoying the feeling of just holding him.

"Axel." Roxas sighed his name, warming the cambion's heart. Then he blinked, lifting his head. "Mmm… what happened? Hey, I can see." Roxas glanced around, taking in the surroundings in surprise. "Where are we?"

"I think it's the cave on the island." Axel said truthfully. "Although how we'll get back to the mainland without a boat is totally beyond me. Maybe we can make one?" Cloud choked and Roxas goggled at that suggestion, then burst out laughing. If the laughter had a slightly hysterical edge Axel chose to ignore it.

"Of course we can! We'll be just like that TV show, what is it… Marooned, that one!" Axel made a face. He knew that show and while it had been cool at first it had gradually mutated into a retarded soap opera.

"Didn't the boat on that show sink?" He asked and Roxas slapped his shoulder with a smile. "Hey, it did!"

"Don't be a pessimist." Roxas started but then Cloud interrupted.

"How did we get here? Did you bring us here?" Cloud seemed vexed and Axel wondered why. "And what about my car?"

"Uh… I don't know about that." Axel admitted and shrugged. "It wasn't me. I don't know what it was. God?" Cloud gave him a sharp look but Axel met his gaze calmly, secure in the knowledge of his innocence. Cloud finally looked away and began walking to the mouth of the cave. The island was exactly as Axel and Roxas remembered, sunny and full of trees and wildlife and -

"My CAR!" Axel and Roxas both stared at the sight as Cloud rushed over to his car. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room for it on this small dirt trail and it was wedged quite firmly between two trees. Axel snorted then frowned as Roxas poked him sharply in the shoulder.

"Don't laugh. How are we going to get it out of here?" The blonde hissed and Axel hesitated, trying to imagine a way. Hmm. "We're going to owe him a car."

"Oh hell." Axel wondered how many pearls it would take to pay for a care. A lot was his best guess. "A good thing we found that money my mom hid, huh? Hey Cloud, are the donuts in there? I'm hungry!" He called to the young man and got a scathing look in reply. Cloud was obviously struggling not to snap at him. "Ease up! We'll pay for it. And we're all alive!"

"He's got a point Cloud." Roxas backed him up and Axel glanced over at him with a smile. The blonde looked so good, his hair a bit mussed and his clothing crumpled. "Do you still have your cell? We could call Sora and Riku to come get us."

"Hmph, alright." Cloud said, slightly mollified. He began hunting through the car and came out with a slightly crumpled box. "Hope you don't mind battered donuts."

"They should do and there should be some papaya this time of year." Roxas glanced at the bushes. "I know where to find it, and there'll be fresh water at the waterfall." He sounded very cheerful and Axel smiled, putting an arm around his waist. Roxas snuggled up, looking up into his face with a smile. Bright blue eyes sparkled and Axel found himself captivated and happier than he had been in years.

It was good to be alive. Even if he wasn't sure exactly how it had come about.

* * *

Something strange was going on. Roxas frowned as he closed the cell phone. He'd just spoken to his parents and they wanted him and Axel to come home. His mother had told him that the pastor had come to visit just this morning and told them that the church had reconsidered its position on Axel. They would keep an eye on him and make regular visits but other than that, he would be left alone. Apparently they thought the cambion could really change. Roxas was very dubious about this sudden change of tune. Could it be a trap?

Musing about that, Roxas wandered over to the waterfall and smiled at the sight of Axel and Cloud playing and splashing each other. His brother's temper had sweetened quite a bit when he'd remembered they really did have the money to replace Tifa's car. Now he was enjoying himself and Roxas watched as Axel chewed a piece of papaya with relish.

"Close your mouth!" Roxas called as he began stripping off his clothes. It would take his parents at least an hour to get here, taking the boat, so they could play a bit. "Mom and dad are coming to get us." He added before moving back just enough to get a running start. Axel looked up just as Roxas leapt into the pool.

"Ack pth!" Axel flinched as he was sprayed with water and Cloud laughed. "Hey, watch it! Wait, your parents?" Axel sounded taken aback as Roxas surfaced, shaking out his hair and shivering. The waterfall was very cold.

"Yes, apparently the church has decided you're okay after all." Axel's expression was as dubious as Roxas felt. "I'm not sure how that works right after you killed the Bishop." He said and Axel frowned, splashing idly in the water as he thought.

"But I didn't kill him. I - I wonder if the priests know who did?" He said slowly and Roxas and Cloud exchanged a glance. "I called out to the angels but that couldn't be it. Could it?" An angel helping him just didn't make any sense. His father was courting him to be a general in the Abyss! Why would an angel have anything to do with him? Roxas shrugged.

"I'm not sure but the pastor wouldn't lie. Unless someone's lied to him." That possibility worried Roxas. He was absolutely certain the pastor was trustworthy but he could be mistaken. Axel chewed on it for a moment then sighed.

"I guess we don't have much choice really. Riku and Sora could get us off the island but they couldn't put us up." Roxas nodded. The idea of going to Tifa's was on ice now. The Island was a good week away and Cloud was missing a car. Their town had a small inn but anyone would recognize them instantly and report them both to this parents. "And your parents wouldn't lie." Axel sounded like he was trying to convince himself but Roxas nodded again.

"They wouldn't. Don't worry, it'll be fine." Roxas promised and touched his hand. Axel forced a smile and Roxas hoped he wasn't lying.

As it turned out, he wasn't. His parents were very tentative and a bit reserved dealing with Axel but the easy way Roxas and Cloud interacted with him helped. The pastor came by personally to give an apology and explain that he'd been put in charge of giving Axel 'annual assessments'. Roxas wasn't sure what that meant but it wouldn't be magical. The pastor was a nice if slightly boring man and had all the magical talent of a rock.

Everything was going so well. Roxas found it worrying and kept looking for a shoe to drop. There had to be a catch.

Didn't there?

* * *

_Axel._ Axel slowly turned around, eyes wide. He was looking at a place of surpassing beauty. Great cliffs of white rock soared to the heavens, oddly similar to the stone Graz'zt's towers were made out of. He'd thought those were ivory though. What was this? _Axel._

"Who is it?" He asked uncertainly, vaguely aware that he was dreaming. But this dream didn't feel like the Abyss and he couldn't see his father anywhere. This was… ethereal, angelic. Axel glanced around and realized he was standing on a floating stone of pure white. Beneath him was rolling clouds, fluffy and tempting to touch. Axel stretched out his hand and a bit of vapor slid through his fingers, delightful and cool.

"Here." Axel turned so quickly he almost stumbled. There was a woman standing behind him. Her hair was an odd shade of blue and her eyes were a milky silver. Her smile was warm and gentle and Axel found himself relaxing in spite of himself. More curious than worried, he examined her clothing. It was a gown of white, vaguely reminding him of the gown Namine had worn although this was far more elaborate with clips of gold. She was holding a silvery globe in one hand. "I am Noelle. I am an aasimar and a seer for the Church."

"An aasimar?" Axel searched his memories for the term but came up blank. "What is that?" Her smile widened and Axel found himself smiling back.

"It's very similar to what you are, actually. An aasimar is the offspring of an angel and a mortal." Axel eyed her in surprise and she turned around. His eyes widened at the small, fluffy wings protruding from slits in her gown. They would be useless for flight unless she used magic, but they were impressive. "Of course, angels are not so lustful so we're much rarer than cambions."

"I'm sure." Axel said dryly, trying to imagine an angel as lustful as Graz'zt. Hah. "What do you want with me? This is your dream." She nodded, her expression sad and stern.

"We foresaw what would come to pass. It was time for Xemnas to be removed. He had grown too arrogant and stubborn with age. More importantly, the celestial powers have an offer for you." Axel quirked an eyebrow at her and she smiled gently. "You are in a unique position at the moment. We know of the offers Graz'zt has been making to you, and you have a choice of whom you wish to follow."

"You want me to join the angel forces instead? Isn't that a bit silly?" Axel was of course aware of the constant war between the devils, demons and angels. The war between the demons and devils was even hotter than their war with the angels, but all three sides of it were unthinkably brutal. "I'm a cambion." Axel knew he wasn't as evil as a true demon but still… Noelle nodded, unsurprised.

"Yes, you are. But the edge that makes you priceless to your father is what could make you just as priceless to us." She frowned, thinking of how to explain. "Your mother somehow enhanced your human side, to enhance your link to her. She also empowered your demonic half to strengthen your bond to your father. Both of them shouldn't have worked but… it did. You are unlike all of Graz'zt's other children. Despite their human blood, they are monsters beneath the skin. You are human." Her tone was gentle but Axel stiffened, scowling.

"Humans would disagree." He said grumpily and she just looked at him sadly. "What do you want from me? Get down to it."

"We want you to spy on your father to us, and betray him when his victory is neigh." Axel stared at her in shock but she wasn't finished. "There is only one thing we can offer you for this service… that your soul will be lifted to the gates of Heaven. You will join Roxas when you die." Axel felt like he'd just been punched in the belly. Roxas? Her smile was sympathetic. "He is destined for Heaven, you know."

"I - I…" Axel hesitated. He hadn't anticipated such an offer. He knew, better than everyone, that there was an afterlife. He'd anticipated going to the Abyss when he died. It felt like home anyway so it wouldn't be too bad. This was unprecedented. "You can do that?" She might have angelic blood but he didn't quite trust it. Noelle shook her head.

"If you accept I'll bring you to the court of heaven and your soul will be branded with their mark. Do not worry about your father detecting it. It will be safely hidden by your demonic side and it would never occur to him to look anyway." Her tone turned wry. "He could never believe one of his children would betray him to angels." That didn't really surprise Axel. But did he want to betray Graz'zt? His mind quickly flashed back to memories of his childhood, the times he'd pleaded with the great demon to save him. He owed his father nothing. But the deciding factor was Roxas. He would do anything to be with Roxas forever…

"I accept." He said shortly and extended his hand. "That globe is for me?" She nodded and pressed it into his hand. The metal was cold and searing.

There was more to the dream, but he could never remember it.


End file.
